BANCROFT    LIBRARY 


CAKTIKR  TAKING   POSSESSION   FOR  FRANCS. 


THE 


MAKING  OF  THE  GREAT  WEST 


ir,12-1883 


BY 

SAMUEL    ADAMS   DRAKE 


WITH  JfANT  ILLUSTRATIONS  AND  MAPS 


NEW  YORK 

YOUNG    PEOPLE'S    MISSIONARY    MOVEMENT 
OF  THE    UNITED  STATES   AND  CANADA 


COPYRIGHT,  1887,  BY 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS. 


Bancroft  Library 


PKEFACE. 


"Time's  noblest  offspring  Is  the  last." 

fTlHIS  history  is  intended  to  meet,  so  far  as  it  may,  the 
want  for  brief,  compact,  and  handy  manuals  of  the  be- 
ginnings of  our  country. 

Although  primarily  designed  for  young  people,  the  fact 
has  not  been  overlooked  that  the  same  want  exists  among 
adult  readers,  to  whom  an  intelligent  view  of  the  subject, 
in  a  little  space,  is  nowhere  accessible. 

For  the  purpose  in  hand,  the  simplest  language  consistent 
with  clearness  has  been  made  use  of,  though  I  have  never 
hesitated  to  employ  the  right  word,  whenever  I  could  com- 
mand it,  even  if  it  were  of  more  than  three  syllables. 

As  in  the  "  Making  of  New  England,"  "  this  book  aims 
to  occupy  a  place  between  the  largei  and  lesser  histories,  — 
to  so  condense  the  exhaustive  narrative  as  to  give  it  greater 
vitality,  or  so  extend  what  the  narrow  limits  of  the  school- 
history  often  leave  obscure  as  to  supply  the  deficiency. 
Thus,  when  teachers  have  a  particular  topic  before  them, 
it  is  intended  that  a  chapter  on  the  same  subject  be  read  to 
fill  out  the  bare  outlines  of  the  common-school  text-book. 

"  To  this  end  the  plan  has  been  to  treat  each  topic  as  a 
unit,  to  be  worked  out  to  a  clear  understanding  of  its  objects 

vii 


VI 11  PREFACE. 

and  results  before  passing  to  another  topic.  And  in  further- 
ance of  this  method,  each  subject  has  its  own  descriptive 
notes,  maps,  plans  and  pictorial  illustration,  so  that  all  may 
contribute  to  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  matter  in  hand. 
The  several  topics  readily  fall  into  groups  that  have  an 
apparent  or  underlying  connection,  which  is  clearly  brought 
out." 

In  this  volume,  I  have  followed  up  to  its  legitimate  end- 
ing the  work  done  by  the  three  great  rival  powers  of  modern 
times  in  civilizing  our  continent.  I  have  tried  to  make  it 
the  worthy,  if  modest,  exponent  of  a  great  theme.  The  story 
grows  to  absorbing  interest,  as  the  great  achievement  of  the 
age,  —  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  overcoming  the  Latin  race,  as 
one  great  wave  overwhelms  another  with  resistless  force. 

Under  the  title  of  "  The  Great  West,"  the  present  volume 
deals  mostly  with  the  section  lying  beyond  the  Mississippi. 
Another  is  proposed,  in  which  the  central  portion  of  the 
Union  will  be  treated.  The  completed  series,  it  is  hoped, 
will  present  something  like  a  national  portrait  of  the  Ameri- 
can people. 


CONTENTS. 


GROUP  I.  — THREE   RIVAL   CIVILIZATIONS. 


I.    The  Spaniards. 

PAUR 

AN  HISTORIC  ERA 1 

DE  SOTO'S  DISCOVERY  or  THE 

MISSISSIPPI 10 

DEATH  AND  BURIAL  OF  DE  SOTO.  18 

THE  INDIANS  OF  FLORIDA  ...  20 
How  NEW  MEXICO  CAME  TO  BE 

EXPLORED -S 

"  THE  MARVELLOUS  COUNTRY  "  .  30 

FOLK  LORE  OF  THE  PUEBLOS  .  .  45 
LAST  DAYS  OF  CHARLES  V.  AND 

PHILIP  II 53 

BWORD  AND  GOWN  IN  CALIFORNIA,  55 

II.    The  French. 

PRELUDE 67 

WESTWARD    BY   THE    GREAT   IN- 

LAND  WATERWAYS 71 

THE  SITUATION  IN  A.D.  1672     .    .  80 

COUNT  FRONTENAC 84 

JOLIET  AND  MARQUETTE  ....  85 

THE  MAN  LA  SALLE 93 

LA  SALLE,  PRINCE  OF  EXPLORERS,  99 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  UPPER  MISSIS- 

SIPPI 105 

THK  LOST  COLONY:  ST.  Louis  OF 

TKXAS 109 

IBERVILLE  FOUNDS  LOUISIANA.    .  118 

FRANCE  WINS  TUB  PKIZE.    ...  123 

I.. .us  XIV 130 

III.    The  English. 

THE  BLEAK  NORTH-WEST  COAST  .  132 

HUDSON'S  BAY  TO  THE  SOUTH  SEA,  136 

THE  RUSSIANS  IN  ALASKA    ...  140 

ENGLAND  ON  THE  PACIFIC    ...  143 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH 147 

Interlude. 
WHAT  JONATHAN  CARVER  AIMED 

TO  DO  IN  1766 149 

JOHN  LEDYARD'S  IDEA 153 

A  YANKEE  SHIP  DISCOVERS  THB 

COLUMBIA  RIVER 156 

THE  WEST  AT  THK  OPINING  OF 

THE  CENTURY    .    .  .162 


GROUP   II.  — BIRTH   OF  THE   AMERICAN   IDEA. 


I.    America  for  Americans. 

PAGE 

ACQUISITION  OF  LOUISIANA  ...    171 
A  GLANCE  AT  OUR  PURCHASE  .    .    175 

II.    The  Pathfinders. 

LEWIS  AND  CLARKE  ASCEND  THE 
MISSOURI 184 


PAGE 

THEY  CROSS  THE  CONTINENT  .  .  191 
PIKE  EXPLORES  THE  ARKANSAS 

VALLEY 198 

NEW  MEXICO  IN  1807 205 

GOLD  IN  COLORADO.  —  A  TBAP- 

PER'S  STORY 208 

THE  FLAG  IN  OREGON 211 

LOUISIANA  ADMITTED  1812  ...  214 

IX 


CONTENTS. 


III.    The  Oregon  Trail. 

PAOE 

THE  TRAPPER,  BACKWOODSMAN, 
AND  EMIGRANT 315 

LONG  EXPLORES  THE  PLATTE 
VALLEY 219 

MISSOURI  AND  THE  COMPROMISE 
OF  1821 223 

ARKANSAS  ADMITTED  1836     .    .    .    227 

THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA  .        .    227 


PAGE 

WITH  THE  VANGUARD  TO  OREGON,  230 

TEXAS  ADMITTED 241 

Interlude. 

NEW  POLITICAL  IDEAS 246 

IOWA  ADMITTED 248 

THE  WAR  WITH  MEXICO   ....  248 

CONQUEST  OF  NEW  MEXICO  .    .    .  251 

TAKING  OF  CALIFORNIA     ....  256 

THE  MORMONS  IN  UTAH    ....  264 


GROUP   III.  — GOLD   IN   CALIFORNIA,   AND  WHAT 
IT  LED  TO. 


I.    The  Great  Emigration. 

PAGE 

EL  DORADO  FOUND  AT  LAST  .    .    .  271 
SWARMING  THROUGH  THE  GOLDEN 

GATE 276 

THE  CALIFORNIA  PIONEERS  ...  279 

CALIFORNIA  A  FREE  STATE   ...  285 

ARIZONA 288 

II.    The  Contest  for  Free  Soil. 

THE    KANSAS-NEBRASKA    STRUG- 


GLE       

KANSAS  THE  BATTLE-GROUND 


290 


THE  BATTLE  FOUGHT  AND  WON 
Two  FREE  STATES  ADMITTED   . 


PAGE 
.    301 

.    307 


III.    The  Crown  of  the 
Continent. 

GOLD    IN    COLORADO,    AND    THE 

RUSH  THERE 309 

THE  PACIFIC  RAILROADS   ....  315 
KANSAS,  NEVADA,  NEBRASKA,  AND 

COLORADO  ADMITTED 320 

THE  RECENT  STATES 322 

THE  WORK  OF  EIGHTY  TEARS  .    .  326 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAOl 

TAKING  POSSESSION  FOR  FRANCE. 

Frontispiece 

SPANISH  ARMS 1 

SHIP  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTORT,  2 

ISABELLA  or  SPAIN 3 

MEDAL  or  CHARLES  V 5 

I'OM-K  DE  LEON 6 

BALBOA  DISCOVERING  THE  PACIFIC,  8 
FRENCH    MAP    or    1542.      FROM 

JOMARD 10 

DE  SOTO 11 

SOLDIER  OF  1585 12 

CUBAN  BLOODHOUND 14 

DEPARTURE  OF  THE  SPANIARDS   .  16 

BURIAL  OF  DE  SOTO 19 

FLORIDA  WARRIOR 21 

PALISADED  TOWN 23 

A  FLORIDA  INDIAN'S  CABIN      .    .  24 

MAKING  A  CANOE 25 

A  CHIEFTAIN'S  GRAVE      ....  26 

PROCESSIONAL  FANS 27 

ROCK  INSCRIPTIONS,  NEW  MEXICO,  29 
MAP,   NEW   MEXICO.     ROUTE  OF 

SPANISH  INVADERS 31 

JUNCTION  OF  THE  GILA  AND  COL- 
ORADO       34 

ORGAN  MOUNTAINS 36 

EL  PASO  DEL  NORTE 38 

A  PUEBLO  RESTORED 41 

ACOMA 43 

CASA  GRANDE,  GILA  VALLEY  .    .  44 

RUINS  OF  PECOS 47 

CEREUS  GIGANTEA 49 

PUEBLO  IDOLS 60 

HIEROGLYPHICS,  GILA  VALLEY     .  51 

MAP,  CALIFORNIA  COAST  ....  65 

SIR  FRANCIS  DRAKE 57 

DRAKE  SAILS  AWAY 58 

OLD  MAP  SHOWING  DRAKE'S  PORT,  60 

CARMEL  MISSION  CHURCH     ...  61 


PAOK 

SPANISH  MAP  or  1787,  SHOWING 
MISSIONS,    PRESIDIOS,    AND 

ROUTES 63 

MAP  FROM   ARCANO  DEL   MARE, 

1647 64 

SUITS   or  THE   SIXTEENTH   CEN- 
TURY    68 

A  \\'..<)i>  RANGER 70 

CHAMPLAIN 72 

A  PORTAGE 73 

TOTEM  OF  THE  FOXES 76 

FRENCH  COSTUMES 77 

Kox   KIVER 78 

Louis  XIV 8'2 

MARQUETTE'S  MAP 86 

WILD  RICE 87 

TOTEM  OF  THE  ILLINOIS   ....  89 

WAR  CANOE,  FROM  LAUONTAN     .  90 

THE  CALUMET 91 

LA  SALLE 94 

MAP  SHOWING  LA  SALUS'S  EXPLO- 
RATIONS    95 

WAMPUM  BELT 102 

Sioux  CHIEF 107 

Sioux  TOTEM 108 

SUGAR  PLANT 120 

MAP  SHOWING  DELTA  OF  THE  MIS- 
SISSIPPI AND  ADJACENT  COAST.  122 

BIENVILLE 124 

FRENCH  SOLDIERS 126 

NEW  ORLEANS,  1719 129 

ABANDONED    HUT,    NORTH-WEST 

COAST 133 

HUDSON'S  BAY  COMPANY'S  HOUSE, 

LONDON 135 

HUDSON'S  BAY  SLED,  LOADED  .    .  136 

INDIAN  MASK,  WEST  COAST      .    .  139 

SEALS,  ST.  PAUL'S  ISLAND    ...  140 

RUSSIAN  CHURCH,  ALASKA  ...  141 

SNOW  SPECTACLES,  ALASKA  ...  144 
xi 


Xll 


LIST   OF   ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

INDIAN  CAR  VINO 144 

INDIAN  GRAVE,  NORTH-WEST 

COAST 155 

QUEEN  ELIZABETH 148 

FALLS  OF  ST.  ANTHONY  ....  151 

INDIAN  BURIAL  SCAFFOLD  ...  152 

MAP,  MOUTH  OF  COLUMBIA  RIVER,  157 
MEDAL,  SHIPS  COLUMBIA  AND 

WASHINGTON 159 

AN  OREGON  BELLE 161 

A  FLAT-BOAT 164 

ON  THE  LOWER  MISSISSIPPI  .  .  167 

A  LOUISIANA  SUGAR-PLANTATION,  176 
FRENCH  SETTLEMENTS:  GERM  OF 

ST.  Louis 177 

OLD  CONVENT,  NEW  ORLEANS  .  .  179 

MAP,  ST.  Louis  AND  VICINITY  .  180 

CHOUTEAU'S  POND,  ST.  Louis  .  .  181 

ROCK  TOWERS  NEAR  DUBUQUE  .  182 

MOUNTAIN  GOAT,  OR  BIG-HORN  .  185 

INDIANS  MOVING  CAMP 186 

A  MANDAN 188 

MANDAN  SKIN  BOATS 190 

GATE  OF  THE  ROCKY  MOUNTAINS,  193 
CATCHING  SALMON,  COLUMBIA 

RIVER 196 

MAP  ILLUSTRATING  LlEUT.  PlKE'S 

EXPLORATIONS 199 

INDIAN  BURIAL-PLACE 200 

PIKE'S  PEAK 202 

THE  YUCCA-TREE;  SPANISH  BAY- 
ONET    205 

CHURCH,  SANTA  F6,  WITH  FORT 

MARCY 207 

AN  EMIGRANT'S  CAMP 217 

MAP    ILLUSTRATING    LONG'S  EX- 
PLORATIONS      220 

PRAIRIE-DOG  VILLAGE 221 

DIGGING     IN    THE     RIVER    FOR 

WATER 222 

STATUE  OF  BENTON 229 

FORT  LARAMIE 235 

AMOLE,  OR  SOAP-PLANT    ....  237 

SAN  ANTONIO 242 

THE  ALAMO 244 

SAMUEL  HOUSTON 245 

MEXICAN  CART 249 

MEXICAN  ARASTRA,   FOR   GRIND- 
ING ORES 250 


PACK 

PUEBLO  WOMAN  GRINDING  CORN  .  253 

BOY  AND  DONKEYS 254 

PUEBLO  OF  TAOS 255 

BIG  TREE 257 

MAP  SHOWING  STATES  AND  TER- 
RITORIES ACQUIRED  FROM  MEX- 
ICO   259 

CALIFORNIA  INDIANS  AND   TULE 

HUT 260 

EL  CAPITAN,  TOSEMITE    ....  262 

SALT-LAKE  CITY  AND  TABERNACLE,  265 

SUTTER'S  MILL 272 

Two  MINERS 274 

THE  GOLDEN  GATE 276 

CHINESE  LAUNDRYMAN     ....  277 

A  FATHER 280 

MOUNT  SHASTA 281 

ON  THE  OREGON  TRAIL     ....  282 

SAN  FRANCISCO  IN  1849     ....  283 

EARLY  COIN 284 

HYDRAULIC  MINING 286 

CHICKEN-VENDER 287 

MISSION   SAN   XAVIER  DEL  BAC, 

NEAR  TUCSON 289 

STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS 291 

A  SQUATTER'S  IMPROVEMENTS  .    .  296 

STREET,  KANSAS  CITY,  1857  ...  297 

LAWRENCE,  KANSAS 298 

THE  FERRY,  LAWRENCE,  KANSAS,  300 

A  SQUATTER  MOVING  HIS  CLAIM  .  301 

MUD  FORT,  LAWRENCE 303 

JOHN  BROWN 304 

JOHN  BROWN'S  CABIN 305 

GATE,  GARDEN  OF  THE  GODS  .    .  309 

HUMORS  OF  THE  ROAD 310 

DENVER  IN  1859 311 

OVERLAND  STAGE  — IN  CAMP    .    .  311 

GOING  IN 312 

COMING  OUT 312 

OFFICE     OF     "  ROCKY-MOUNTAIN 

NEWS,"  DENVER    ......  312 

COLORADO  CITY,  1859 313 

QUARTZ  STAMPING-MILL   ....  314 

QUAKER  GUN  AT  STAGE  STATION  .  315 
PONY   EXPRESS    AND    OVERLAND 

STAGE 317 

TRACK-LAYING,  PACIFIC  RAIL- 
ROAD    319 

REAPING-MACHINE 327 


GROUP  I. 


THREE  RIVAL  CIVILIZATIONS. 


"  True  History,  henceforth  charged  -with  the  education 
of  the  People,  will  study  the  successive  movements  of 
humanity."  —  VICTOR  HUGO. 


THE    SPANIARDS. 


AN  HISTORIC  ERA. 

"And  from  America  the  golden  fleece 
That  yearly  stuffs  old  Philip's  treasury." 

Marlowe's  Fattttui. 

THE  story  we  have  to  tell  was  the  problem  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  and  is  no  less  the  marvel  of 
the  nineteenth.  Put  in  the  simplest 
possible  form,  the  riddle  to  be  solved 
in  every  palace  of  Christendom  was, 
"  How  is  the  discovery  of  a  new  world 
going  to  affect  mankind  ?  " 

To  make  the  whole  story  clear,  from 
beginning  to  end,  calls  for  an  effort  to 
first  put  ourselves  in  relation  with  that 
remote  time,  —  its  thought,  its  inter- 
ests, its  aims  and  civilization.  Let  us 
try  to  do  this  now,  at  this  time,  when 
from  our  standpoint  of  achieved  suc- 
cess we  may  calmly  look  back  over  the 
field,  and  see  clearly  the  causes  which 
have  led  up  to  it  in  orderly  succession. 

In  the  very  beginning  we  see  three  rival  civilizations. 
We  see  different  nations,  each  of  which  is  putting  forth 
efforts  to  grasp  dominion  in,  or  stamp  its  own  civiliza- 

l 


SPANISH  ARMS. 


2  AN   HISTORIC   ERA. 

tion  upon,  the  New  World  in  despite  of  the  other. 
We  see  civilization  apparently  engaged  in  defeating  its 
own  ends.  Naturally,  then,  our  first  interest  centres  in 
the  combatants  themselves.  Who  and  what  are  these 
Old  World  gladiators,  who,  in  making  choice  of  the 
New  for  their  arena,  have  stripped  for  the  encounter  ? 

Great  affairs  were  engaging  the  attention  of  the  civil- 
ized world,  so  great  that  nearly  all  Europe  was  up  in 


SHIP  OF  THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY. 


arms.  It  was  the  era  of  unsettled  conditions,  —  of  old 
jealousies  and  animosities  revived,  of  new  opportunities 
and  new  adjustments  created  by  them.  But  among  the 
nations  of  Europe  power  was  very  differently  distrib- 
uted from  what  we  see  it  to-day.  Spain,  not  England, 
was  acknowledged  mistress  of  the  seas.  Not  yet  had 
England  wrested  that  proud  title  from  her  ancient  rival 
in  the  greatest  naval  battle  of  the  century.  Drake  and 
Frobisher  had  not  been  born.  Hawkins  was  a  lad, 
strolling  about  the  quays  of  his  native  seaport.  Who, 
then,  should  dispute  with  Spain  dominion  of  the  seas  ? 


AN   HISTORIC    Ell  A. 


3 


The  royal  standard  of  Spain  had  indeed  floated  very 
far  at  sea.  Columbus  had  home  it  even  iu  sight  of  the 
shores  of  Mexico ;  but,  though  he  hud  given  to  Spain 
a  new  world,  he,  the  man  of  his  century,  did  not  suc- 
ceed in  finding  his  long-sought  strait  to  India,  and  so 
had  died  without  seeing  the  one  great  purpose  of  his 
life  accomplished. 

Yet  Columbus,  so  to  speak,  was  a  lever  of  Archi- 
medes,1 for  with  the  greatness  of  his  idea  he  had  moved 
both  the  Old  World 
and  the  New.  The 
Old  was  thrown  into 
commotion  because  of 
his  discoveiies  and 
what  they  implied  to 
mankind,  the  New 
thrilled  with  the  new 
life  that  stirred  in  her 
bosom.  Spain  at  once 
stepped  forward  into 
the  front  rank  of  na- 
tions. How  strange 
and  striking  are  the 
events  that  have  flowed 
from  this  one  idea 
working  in  one  man's  brain!  And  where,  in  all  the 
history  of  the  world,  shall  we  look  for  their  equal? 

By  the  time  Columbus  had  returned  to  Spain,  the 
Portuguese  mariner,  Diaz,  had  also  discovered  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope.  Upon  this  these  two  proud  and  power- 
ful nations,  Spain  and  Portugal,  agreed  to  divide  be- 
tween themselves  all  the  unknown  lands  and  seas  to 
the  east  and  to  the  west  of  a  meridian  line  which 


ISABELLA  OF  SPAIN. 


AN   HISTORIC   EKA. 

should  be  drawn  from  pole  to  pole,  one  hundred  and 
seventy  leagues  west  of  the  Azores.  All  other  nations 
were  thus  to  be  excluded  from  the  New  World.2 

Having  first  secured  a  solid  foothold  in  the  Antilles,3 
through  Columbus  and  his  discoveries,  Spain  early  threw 
out  her  expeditions  into  Florida  (1512)  and  Mexico 
(1519).  The  one  was  the  logical  result  of  the  other, 
for  St.  Domingo  and  Cuba  now  assumed  distinct  im- 
portance, as  stations,  whence  it  was  easy  to  move  for- 
ward upon  new  schemes  of  conquest.  In  the  harbors 
of  these  islands  the  Spaniards  could  refit  their  ships  or 
recruit  their  crews  after  the  long  ocean  voyage  fron? 
Europe.  Cuba,  especially,  became  an  arsenal  of  the 
highest  military  importance,  which  Spain  took  great 
pains  to  strengthen. 

So  at  the  very  outset,  Spain  held  this  great  advan- 
tage over  her  competitors.  She  possessed  a  naval  sta- 
tion conveniently  situated  for  making  descents  upon 
the  adjacent  coasts,  which  none  of  them  was  able  to 
secure  for  themselves. 

Columbus  died  in  1506;  Ferdinand,  King  of  Spain, 
whose  name  by  the  accident  of  time  is  linked  in  with 
that  of  Columbus,  had  also  died;  and  now  Charles, 
who  shortly  was  crowned  Emperor  of  Germany,  began 
his  most  eventful  reign.  The  period  it  covers  is  one 
of  the  most  momentous  in  modern  history,  and  as  great 
occasions  commonly  bring  forth  great  men,  so  those 
monarchs  who  then  ruled  over  the  peoples  of  Europe 
were  worthy  of  the  time  in  which  they  lived.  Charles 
was  himself  one  of  the  greatest  of  these  monarchs. 
Francis  I.  of  France  was  another ;  Henry  VIII.  of 
England  another.  Hence  we  have  felt  justified  in  say- 
ing, as  we  did  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  that  our 


AN   HISTORIC   EKA.  5 

starting-point  was  fixed  in  ar  historic  era;  for  every 
thing  betokened  that  as  between  such  men  as  these 
were  the  struggle  was  to  be  a  contest  of  giants. 

During  this  reign  the  conquests  of  Mexico  and  Peru 
took  place.  During  this  reign  Spain  was  raised  to  such 
a  height  of  greatness  as  had  never  before  been  known 
in  her  history.  Europe  looked  on  in  wonder  to  see 
these  grand  schemes  of  conquest  being  carried  on  three 
thousand  miles  away,  while  Spain's  powerful  neighbors 


MEDAL  OF  CHARLES  V. 


were  kept  in  awe  at  home.  The  English  poet  Dry  den, 
who  wrote  a  play  upon  the  conquest  of  Mexico,  makes 
Cortez  and  Montezuma  hold  the  following  dialogue, 
Cortez  offering  peace  or  war :  — 

Mont.    "Whence,  or  from  whom  dost  thou  these  offers  bring? 
Cortez.    From  Charles  the  Fifth,  the  world's  most  potent  king. 

Other  nations  would  gladly  have  shared  the  riches  of 
the  New  World  with  the  conquerors,  but  Spain  haugh- 
tily warned  away  intruders,  meaning  to  keep  the  prize 
for  herself  alone. 


6 


AN   HISTORIC   ERA. 


It  was  then  that  Francis  I.  demanded  to  be  shown 
that  clause  in  the  will  of  Adam  disinheriting  him  in 
the  New  World.  But  Spain  was  too  formidable  to  be 
attacked  on  the  seas.  On  the  land,  the  two  great  rivals 
met  at  Pavia,  where  the  pride  of  France  was  laid  so 
low  that  after  the  battle  was  over,  Francis  wrote  to  his 
mother  the  memorable  words,  so  often  made  use  of  in 
like  emergencies,  "  Madam,  all  is  lost  except  honor." 

The  pre  -  eminent 
grandeur  of  Spain,  at 
this  period,  shines  out 
all  the  clearer  by  com- 
parison with  the  infe- 
rior attitude  of  Eng- 
land, not  only  as  a 
military  power,  but  in 
respect  of  peaceful 
achievement.  By  the 
light  Spain  carried  in 
the  van  of  discovery 
other  nations  moved 
forward,  but  at  a  dis- 
tance indicating  their 
respect  for  the  dictator  of  European  politics. 

It  is  worth  our  remembering  that  in  the  efforts  made 
to  obtain  a  foothold  upon  the  mainland,  or  terra  firmaf 
as  the  Spaniards  then  called  it,  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  may  claim  precedence  in  the  order  of 
time.  Before  Cortez  landed  in  Mexico,  Ponce  de  Leon 
had  discovered  and  named  Florida.  Therefore  Florida 
was  the  first  portion  of  the  North-American  continent 
to  receive  the  baptism  of  a  Christian  name.5 

Although,  under  this  name   of  Florida,  Spain   first 


PONCE   DE   LEON. 


AN   HISTORIC   ERA.  7 

claimed  every  thing  in  North  America,  it  was  the  great 
central  region  lying  about  the  tropics  to  which  her 
explorers  first  turned  their  attention. 

Cortez  landed  on  the  Gulf  Coast,  unfurled  his  banner 
of  "blood  and  gold,"  set  fire  to  his  ships,6  to  let  his 
followers  know  that  for  him  and  them  there  was  no 
retreat,  and  marched  on  into  the  heart  of  Mexico. 
Two  initial  points  are  thus  fixed  from  which  to  con- 
tinue the  story  of  Spanish  domination  in  the  New 
World,  Florida  and  Mexico. 

Then  again,  having  at  last  found  their  way  across  the 
Isthmus  of  Darien  to  the  South  Sea7  (1513),  the  Span- 
iards in  a  measure  ceased  from  their  persistent  and  use- 
less search  for  an  open  watt -r-\\ay  to  India.  Cortez 
presently  hewed  out  another  road,  with  the  sword, 
ttcross  Mexico,  to  this  great  western  ocean.  His  achieve- 
ment was  quickly  followed  up  by  Ulloa  (1539),  Cabrillo 
(1542),  and  other  Spanish  navigators,  who  were  sent 
by  Cortez  or  the  Viceroy  to  extend  discovery  up  the 
roast.  They  coasted  the  Gulf  of  California,  first  called 
the  Vermilion  Sea,  and  Bailed  beyond  it,  as  high  as  30° 
North  latitude. 

So  thanks  to  Cortez,  Spain  had  secured  the  much- 
coveted  way  to  India  at  last.  Yet  when  he  came  home 
to  his  native  country,  the  king  demanded  of  those  about 
him  who  Cortez  was.  "  I  am  a  man,"  said  the  con- 
queror of  Mexico,  "  who  has  gained  your  majesty  more 
provinces  than  your  father  left  you  towns." 

Supreme  on  land  and  sea,  Spain  pushed  on  her  con- 
quests abroad  without  hinderance.  If  such  deeds  as 
hers  had  so  irritated  the  self-love  of  a  rival  prince,  how 
must  they  have  stirred  the  blood  of  all  those  daring 
spirits  by  whom  Charles  was  surrounded,  and  who 


AN   HISTORIC   ERA. 


BALBOA    DISCOVERING    THE    PACIFIC    OCEAN. 

"  Silent  upon  a  peak  in  Darien."  —  KEATS. 


AN   HISTORIC   ERA.  8 

burned  to  distinguish  themselves  in  the  service  of  then1 
liege  lord  and  sovereign.  In  America,  men  said  the 
making  of  a  new  empire  had  begun.  If  that  were  so, 
it  meant  that  men  of  energy,  ambition  and  capacity, 
the  kind  of  men  on  whom  fortune  waits  to  bestow  her 
choicest  favors,  should  seek  her  there. 

But  Mexico  and  Peru  were  already  won.  When, 
therefore,  the  Spaniards  In^an  to  look  about  them  for 
new  worlds  to  conquer,  their  eyes  fell  upon  Florida.  It 
is  true  that  all  those  who  had  st-t  forth  upon  this  errand 
met  with  nothing  but  disaster.8  A  spell  seemed  hang- 
ing over  this  land  of  flowers.  The  Spaniards  had 
indeed,  with  much  pomp,  planted  a  cross,  strangely 
proclaiming  themselves  masters  of  the  country ;  yet, 
without  power  to  hold  a  foot  of  ground,  this  cross  stood 
a  monument  to  their  failures,  as  its  inscription  seemed 
an  epitaph  to  their  presumption. 

1  LEVER   OF    ARCHIMEDES.      The  •  CHRISTIAN   NAME,  from  its   die- 
Baying  attributed  to  this  celebrated  math-        covery  on  Easter  Sunday,  Ptttcha  Flori- 
eraatician  of  ancient  time*,  th;it  if  they        dum  —  Flowery  Easter. 

would  give  him  a  fulcrum  for  his  lever  «  BURNING  ONE'S  SHIPS  has  passed 

he  would  move  the  world,  is  often  era-  into  a  proverb  often  used  to  illustrate 

ployed  in  one  or  another  sense  as  a  figure  some  act  of  extraordinary  hardihood,  by 

of  speech.  which  one  puts  it  out  of  his  power  to 

2  POPE  ALEXANDER  VI.  confirmed  draw  back  from  an  undertaking.    Cor- 
the  act  of  partition  by  a  special  decree,  tez  only  followed  the  example  of  the 
called  a  bull.  Emperor  Julian   in  ancient   Rome,  and 

8  ANTILLES,  an  early  name  of  the  of  William  the  Conqueror  in  England. 
West  Indies.  7  SOUTH    SEA.     The  Pacific  Ocean 

«  TERRA    FIRMA,   literally  meaning  was  so  first  called. 

firm  land;  a  name  first  used  by  the  Span-  8  DISASTER   befell    the    attempt    of 

ianls  to  distinguish  the  American  conti-  Narvaez  upon  Florida  in  1528.    Look  it 

nent,  or  that  part  first  discovered,  from  up. 
the  West  India  Islands. 


10        DE   SOTO'S  DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 


DE   SOTO'S   DISCOVERY  OF  THE   MISSISSIPPI.1 

"One  may  buy  gold  at  too  dear  a  price."  —  Spanish. 

IF  we  look  at  the  earliest  Spanish  maps  on  which  the 
Gulf  of  Mexico  is  laid  down,  not  only  do  we  find  the 
delta  of  a  great  river  put  in  the  place  where  we  would 


NEVFVE 
ESPAIGNE 


FRENCH   MAP  OP  1542.     FROM  JOMAIU). 


expect  to  see,  on  our  maps  of  to-day,  the  Mississippi  mak- 
ing its  triumphal  entry  into  the  sea,  but  the  map-makers 
have  even  given  it  a  name  —  Rio  del  Espiritu  Santo  - 
meaning,  in  their  language,  the  River  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
That  this  knowledge  ought  not  to  detract  from  the 
work  of  subsequent  explorers  is  quite  clear  to  our  minds, 
because  the  charts  themselves  show  that  only  the  coast 
line 2  had  been  examined  when  these  results  were  put 


DE   SOTO'S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.        11 


upon  parchment.  The  explorers  had  indeed  found  a 
river,  and  made  a  note  of  it,  but  had  passed  on  their 
way  without  so  much  as  suspecting  that  the  muddy 
waters  they  saw  flowing  out  of  the  land  before  them 
drained  a  continent.  Had  they  made  this  important 
discovery,  we  cannot  doubt  their  readiness  to  have 
profited  by  it  in  making  their  third  invasion  of  Florida. 
So  the  discovery,  if  it  can  be  called  one,  had  no  prac- 
tical value  for  those  who  made  it,  and  the  country 
remained  a  sealed  book  as  before.  We  cannot  wonder 
at  this  because  La  Salle  subsequently  failed  to  find  the 
river  when  actually  searching  for  it,  though  he  had 
seen  it  before. 

With  600  men,  both  horse  and  foot,  thoroughly 
equipped  and  ably  led,  Hernando  de  Soto  8  set  sail  from 
Havana  in  May,  and 
landed  on  the  Florida 
coast  on  Whitsunday  4 
of  the  year  1539. 

De  Soto  did  not 
'burn  his  ships,  like 
Cortes,  but  sent  them 
back  to  Havana  to 
await  his  further  or- 
ders. These  Span- 
iards had  come,  not 
as  peaceful  colonists, 
looking  for  homes  and 
a  welcome  among  the 

/»        1  •!        1  "^     avt-^' 

owners  of  the  soil,  but 

as  soldiers  bent  only  upon  conquest.  De  Soto,  as  we 
have  seen,  had  brought  an  army  with  him.  Its  camp 
was  pitched  in  military  order.  It  moved  at  the  trum- 


12 


DE   SOTO  S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


pet's  martial  sound.  Two  hundred  horsemen  carrying 
lances  and  long  swords  marched  in  the  van.  With 
them  rode  the  Adelantado,  his  standard-bearer  and 
suite.  Behind  these  squadrons  marched  the  men  of  all 
arms  —  cross-bowmen,  arquebusmen,  calivermen,  pike- 
men,  pages  and  squires,  who  attached  themselves  to 


SOLDIER   OF   1585. 

the  officers  in  De  Soto's  train  —  then  came  the  bag- 
gage with  its  camp-guard  of  grooms  and  serving-men : 
and  last  of  all,  another  strong  body  of  infantry  solidly 
closed  the  rear  of  the  advancing  column,  so  that 
whether  in  camp  or  on  the  march,  it  was  always  ready 
to  fight.  In  effect,  De  Soto  entered  Florida  sword  in 
hand,  declaring  all  who  should  oppose  him  enemies. 
De  Soto  enforced  an  iron  discipline,  never  failing, 


DB  SOTO'S   DISCOVERY  OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.         13 

like  a  good  soldier,  himself  to  set  an  example  of  obedi- 
ence to  the  orders  published  for  the  conduct  of  his 
army.  In  following  his  fortunes,  it  is  well  to  keep  the 
fact  firmly  in  mind  that  De  Soto  was  embarked  in  a 
campaign  for  conquest  only. 

Toward  the  unoffending  natives  of  the  country  the 
invaders  used  force  first,  conciliation  afterwards.  As  in 
Mexico  and  Peru,  so  here  they  meant  to  crush  out  all 
opposition,  —  to  thoroughly  subjugate  the  country  to 
their  arms.  De  Soto  had  served  under  Pizarro,  and  had 
shown  himself  an  apt  pupil  of  a  cruel  master.  The 
Indians  were  held  to  have  110  rights  whatever,  or  at 
least  none  that  white  men  were  bound  to  respect. 
Meaning  to  make  slaves  of  them,  the  Spaniards  had 
brought  bloodhounds  to  hunt  them  down,  chains  with 
iron  collars  to  keep  them  from  running  away,  and 
wherever  the  army  went  these  poor  wretches  were  led 
along  in  its  train,  like  so  many  wild  beasts,  by  their 
cruel  masters.  On  the  march  they  were  loaded  down 
with  burdens.  When  the  Spaniards  halted,  the  cap- 
tives would  throw  themselves  upon  the  ground  like 
tired  dogs.  When  hungry  they  ate  what  was  thrown 
to  the  dogs.  So  far  as  known,  Hernando  cle  Soto  was 
the  first  to  introduce  slavery,5  in  its  worst  form,  into 
the  country  of  Florida,  and  in  this  manner  did  this 
Christian  soldier  of  a  Christian  prince  set  up  the  first 
government  by  white  men  begun  in  any  part  of  the 
territory  of  the  United  States. 

The  Spaniards  were  seeking  for  the  gold  which  they 
believed  the  country  contained.  At  the  first  landing,  a 
Spaniard,6  who  had  lived  twelve  years  among  the 
Florida  Indians,  was  brought  by  them  into  the  camp 
among  his  friends.  The  first  thing  De  Soto  asked  this 


14        DE   SOTO'S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 

man  was  whether  he  knew  of  any  gold  or  silver  in  the 
country.  When  he  frankly  said  that  he  did  not,  his 
countrymen  would  not  believe  him.  The  Indians, 
when  questioned,  pointed  to  the  mountains,  where  gold 
is,  indeed,  found  to  this  day.  Though  he  did  not  believe 
him,  De  Soto  took  the  rescued  man  along  with  him  as 
his  interpreter. 


CUBAN   BLOODHOUND. 


It  was  said,  and  by  many  believed,  that  somewhere 
in  Florida  stood  a  golden  city,  ruled  over  by  a  king  or 
high  priest  who  was  sprinkled  from  head  to  foot  with 
gold-dust  instead  of  powder.  This  story  was  quite 
enough  to  excite  the  cupidity  of  the  Spaniards,  who 
grew  warm  when  speaking  of  this  city  as  the  El 
Dorado,7  or  city  of  the  Gilded  One. 

Such  fables  would  not  now  be  listened  to  by  sensible 


DB   SOTO'S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI.         15 

people,  but  in  the  time  we  are  writing  of  they  were 
firmly  believed  in,  not  only  by  the  poor  and  ignorant, 
but  by  the  greatest  princes  in  Christendom,  as  well. 
No  doubt  they  helped  to  fill  De  Soto's  ranks.  Lord 
Bacon  tells  us  that  in  all  superstitions  wise  men  follow 
fools,  and  as  this  was  a  superstitious  age,  we  can  readily 
believe  him.  The  great,  the  prolific,  the  true  mines  of 
the  country,  the  cultivation  of  the  soil,  was  not  thought 
of  by  these  soldiers  of  fortune  who  followed  De  Soto 
into  Florida. 

This  ill-starred  expedition  is  memorable  rather  for  its 
misfortunes  than  because  of  any  service  it  lias  rendered 
to  civilization.  Most  graphically  are  these  shadowed 
forth  in  the  death  and  burial  of  De  Soto  himself,  and  in 
that  sense  they  will  stand  for  all  time  on  the  page  of 
history  as  a  memorial  to  what  men  will  dare  and  suffer 
for  greed  of  gold.  In  any  other  cause  the  expedition 
would  be  worthy  an  epic. 

Although  composed  of  the  best  soldiers  in  the  world, 
with  a  valiant  and  skilful  captain  for  its  leader,  the 
little  army  became  so  hopelessly  entangled,  so  utterly 
lost  in  the  primeval  wildernesses,  that  to  this  day  it  has 
never  been  possible  to  trace  out  the  true  course  of  that 
fatal  march.8  Wherever  he  could  hear  of  gold,  thither 
De  Soto  led  his  weary  and  footsore  battalions.  When 
baffled  on  one  side,  he  turned  with  rare  perseverance  to 
another.  And  though  they  were  being  wasted  in  daily 
combats,  though  famine  and  disease  followed  them  step 
by  step  through  swamp  and  everglade,  over  mountains 
and  rivers,  still,  with  wondrous  fatuity,  De  Soto  pushed 
ever  on.  Like  an  enchantress  his  El  Dorado  had  lured 
him  on  to  his  destruction. 

For  about  two  years  De  Soto  and  his    companions 


16         DE   SOTO'S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE   MISSISSIPPI. 

wholly  passed  from  the  knowledge  of  men.  A  mis- 
erable remnant  of  this  once  gallant  band  then  made 
their  way  to  the  coast,  not  indeed  as  conquerors,  but  as 
fugitives.9 

Just  where  these  years  were  passed  is   not  clear. 
Long  ago  time  obliterated  all  traces  of  the  invaders' 


DEPARTURE   OF  THE   SPANIARDS. 


march.  So  the  clew  is  lost.  Yet  we  do  know  that  one 
day  in  May,  1541,  two  years  after  its  first  landing,  the 
army  halted  on  the  banks  of  an  unknown  river  almost 
half  a  league  broad.  One  of  the  soldiers  says  of  it, 
that  if  a  man  stood  still  on  the  other  side  it  could  not 
be  discerned  whether  he  was  a  man  or  no.  The  river 
was  of  great  depth,  and  of  a  strong  tide  which  bore 


DE  SOTO  S   DISCOVERY   OF   THE  MISSISSIPPI. 


IT 


along  with  it  continually  many  great  trees.  All  doubt 
vanishes.  This  could  be  no  other  than  the  "  Father  of 
Waters  "  itself. 


1  MISSISSIPPI  RIVER  first  mentioned 
(Indian).  The  name  is  variously  spelled 
by  aarly  writers.  «'  Father  of  Waters," 
or  "Great  Father  of  Waters,"  is  the 
accepted  meaning.  Most  probably  the 
Eapiritu  Santo  of  the  earliest  known 
Spanish  map  of  Florida  (1521),  of  Sebas- 
tian Cabot's  (1544) ;  and  St.  Esprit  of 
the  one  given  in  the  text,  though  the 
Mobile  may  be  meant.  De  Soto's 
people  seem  first  to  have  called  it  Rio 
Grande  or  Great  liiver.  This  disaster 
brought  exploration  in  this  quarter  to  a 
full  stop  for  forty  years,  when  it  waa 
resumed  by  the  French,  of  whose  effort* 
we  shall  presently  speak.  The  river 
then  appears  on  a  map  of  the  explorer 
Louis  Joliet  (1674)  under  its  present 
name,  though  there  spelled  "  Messa- 
.>./>/."  From  this  time  the  name  super- 
seded all  others. 

1  GULF  COAST  of  Florida  is  laid 
down  with  tolerable  accuracy  on  a  map 
of  1513  (Ptolemy,  Venice).  Garay 
examined  it  in  1518.  By  1530  (Ptolemy, 
Banle)  the  Gulf  Coast  had  obtained  quite 
accurate  delineation.  The  Gulf,  itself, 
beinu'  the  hivhway  for  ships  bound  to 
Mexico  and  Yucatan,  was  well  known 
to  Spanish  sailors.  Erelong  it  became 
an  exclusively  Spanish  sea  on  which  no 
other  flag  was  allowed. 

3  HERNANDO  DE  SOTO  is  described 
by  one  of  his  followers  as  "  a  stem  man 
of  few  words,  who,  though  he  liked  to 
know  and  sift  the  opinions  of  other  men, 
always  did  what  he  liked  himself,  and 
so  all  men  did  condescend  unto  his  will." 
—  Set  Portugall. 

4  WHITSUNDAY,  or  Whitsuntide,  a 
festival  of   the  Christian  Church  com- 
memorating the   descent    of    the    Holy 
Ghost  upon  the  apostles. 

6  SLAVERY,  a  certain  type,  it  is  true, 
3xisted  among  the  Indians  of  this  conti- 


nent, who  held  their  captives  in  semi, 
servitude,  though  the  condition  waa 
totally  different,  in  that  the  captive  waa 
considered  eligible  for  adoption  into  the 
family  and  tribe  of  his  master.  Among 
the  Indians  the  question  of  social  equal- 
ity had  nothing  to  do  with  their  policy 
toward  their  prisoners,  or  such  as  re- 
fused to  become  incorporated  with  them- 

helves. 

•  A  SPANIARD  who  came  with  Nar- 
vaez    to   Florida,  named  Juan   (John) 
Ortiz. 

7  EL  DORADO.  Bear  this  name  in 
mind.  We  shall  meet  with  it  again. 

•  THAT   FATAL   MARCH.     The  OP# 
clew  to  the  route  De  Solo  took  in  his 
wanderings  up  and  down  what  are  now 
the  Gulf  States,  is  found  in  the  names 
of   various  Indian  nations  whose  coun- 
tries   be    traversed.     Thus    the    names 
Apalache,     Coca     (Qoosa),     Tuscaluca 
(Tuscaloosa),  and  rhk-a<;a   (Chicasaw) 
are  so  many  landmarks.    But  no  precise 
data  remain  from  which  to  lay  down, 
with    reasonable    accuracy,    a    journey 
which  extended  over  at  least  eight  or 
ten  states,  covered  thousands  of    miles, 
and    occupied    years    in    making.      De 
Soto's     crossing    place    is     placed     on 
Pow nail's  (Eng.)  official  map  of  1755  at 
or  near  Osier  Point,  on  the  east  bank, 
now  corresponding  with  the  north-west 
corner  of  the  State  of  Mississippi  and 
De  Soto  County.    On  a  map  of  1775,  it  is 
fixed  on  the  thirty-fourth  parallel,  some 
distance  below  the  ancient  village  of  the 
Arkansas,  or  "  Handsome  Men." 

9  As  FUGITIVES,  De  Soto's  follow- 
ers, under  command  of  Moscoso,  his 
successor,  built  themselves  boats,  in 
which  they  descended  the  Mississippi  to 
the  coast,  finally  reaching  Tampico,  in 
Mexico,  "  whereat  the  viceroy  greatly 
wondered." 


18  DEATH   AND   BURIAL   OF   DE   SOTO. 

DEATH   AND   BURIAL   OF  DE   SOTO. 

"By  a  Portugal!  of  the  Company." 

"THE  Gouernour  felt  in  himselfe  that  the  houre 
approached,  wherein  he  was  to  leaue  this  present  life, 
and  called  for  the  Kings  Officers,  Captaines  and  princi- 
pall  persons.  Hee  named  Luys  de  Moscoso  de  Alua- 
rado  his  Captaine  generall.  And  presently  he  was 
sworne  by  all  that  were  present,  and  elected  for  Gou- 
ernour. The  next  day,  being  the  one  and  twentieth 
of  May,  1542,  departed  out  of  this  life,  the  valorous, 
virtuous,  and  valiant  Captaine,  Don  Fernando  de  Soto, 
Gouernour  of  Cuba,  and  Adelantado  of  Florida  :  whom 
fortune  aduanced,  as  it  vseth  to  doe  others,  that  he 
might  have  the  higher  fall.1  Hee  departed  in  such  a 
place,  and  at  such  a  time,  as  in  his  sicknesse  he  had 
but  little  comfort :  and  the  danger  wherein  all  his  peo- 
ple were  of  perishing  in  that  countrie,  which  appeared 
before  their  eyes,  was  cause  sufficient,  why  euery  one 
of  them  had  neede  of  comfort,  and  why  they  did  not 
visite  nor  accompanie  him  as  they  ought  to  have  done. 
Luys  de  Moscoso  determined  to  conceale  his  death  from 
the  Indians,  because  Ferdinando  de  Soto  had  made 
them  beleeue,  that  the  Christians  were  immortall ;  and 
also  because  they  tooke  him  to  be  hardy,  wise,  and  val- 
iant: and  if  they  should  knowe  that  hee  was  dead, 
they  would  be  bold  to  set  upon  the  Christians,  though 
they  liued  peaceably  by  them. 

"As  soon  as  he  was  dead,  Luys  de  Moscoso  com- 
manded to  put  him  secretly  in  an  house,  where  he 
remayned  three  dayes :  and  remouing  him  from  thence, 
commanded  him  to  be  buried  in  the  night  at  one  of  the 


DEATH   AND  BURIAL  OF   DE   SOTO.  19 

gates  of  the  towne  within  the  wall.  And  as  the  Indi- 
ans had  scene  him  sick,  and  missed  him,  so  did  they 
suspect  what  might  be.  And  passing  by  the  place 
where  he  was  buried,  seeing  the  earth  moued,  they 
looked  and  spake  one  to  another.  Luys  de  Mososco 
vnderstanding  of  it,  commanded  him  to  be  taken  up 
by  night,  and  to  cast  a  great  deale  of  sand  into  the 
Mantles,  wherein  he  was  winded  vp,  wherein  he  was 


BURIAL   OF   DE    SOTO. 


carried  in  a  canoa,  and  throwne  into  the  midst  of  the 
riuer.  The  Cacique  of  Guachoya  inquired  of  him, 
demanding  what  was  become  of  his  brother  and  lord, 
the  Gouernor :  Luys  de  Moscoso  told  him,  that  he  was 
gone  to  Heauen,  as  many  other  times  he  did :  and  be- 
cause he  was  to  stay  there  certaine  dayes,  he  had  left 
him  in  his  place.  The  Cacique  thought  with  himselfe 
that  he  was  dead ;  and  commanded  two  young  and  well 
proportioned  Indians  to  be  brought  thither;  and  said, 


20  DEATH  AND   BURIAL   OF  DE   SOTO. 

that  the  vse  of  that  countrie  was,  when  any  Lord  died, 
to  kill  Indians,  to  waite  vpon  him,  and  serue  him  by 
the  way :  and  for  that  purpose  by  his  commandement 
were  those  come  thither :  and  prayed  Luys  de  Moscoso 
to  command  them  to  be  beheaded,  that  they  might 
attend  and  serue  his  Lord  and  brother.  Luys  de  Mos- 
coso told  him,  that  the  Gouernour  was  not  dead,  but 
gone  to  Heauen,  and  that  of  his  owne  Christian  Soul- 
diers,  he  had  taken  such  as  he  needed  to  serue  him,  and 
prayed  him  to  command  those  Indians  to  be  loosed, 
and  not  to  vse  any  such  bad  custome  from  thence- 
forth." 


THE   INDIANS  OF   FLORIDA. 

Indian  High  Priest.    "Old  prophecies  foretell  our  fall  at  hand. 
When  bearded  men  in  floating  castles  land, 
I  fear  it  is  of  dire  portent."  —  Dry den's  Indian  Emperor. 

DE  SOTO'S  invasion  of  Florida  is,  we  think,  most  mem- 
orable for  what  it  has  preserved  touching  the  manners 
and  customs  of  the  Indians  with  whom  the  Spaniards 
dealt  in  such  evil  sort.  In  this  light  only  has  it  historic 
value.  Though  incomplete  as  to  details  it  is  our  earli- 
est portrait  of  this  singular  people,  as  they  existed  a  full 
century  before  New  England  was  settled,  and  so  marks 
a  definite  limit  of  history  whence  to  date  that  knowl- 
edge from. 

Yet  when  we  shall  have  gone  so  far  back  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  primitive  race  as  the  beginning  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  nothing  is  found  in  their  manners, 
customs  or  traditions,  as  they  have  come  down  to  us, 
which  would  go  to  confirm  the  theory  that  the  ances- 
tors of  these  people  were  more  civilized  than  themselves. 


THE   INDIANS   OF   FLORIDA. 


21 


The  little  they  seem  to  have  known  about  it  belongs  to 
the  very  infancy  of  art,  not  to  its  growth  out  of  lower 
conditions.  These  Indians  knew  how  to  make  beads  of 
the  pearl  oyster.  So  did  those  of  New  England  know 
how  to  make  shell  wampum.  The  Florida  Indians 
could  weave  cloth  of  the  fibre  of 
wild  hemp  and  dye  it  prettily ; 
they  could  tan,  dress,  and  deco- 
rate deerskins;  had  found  out 
Imw  to  mould  rude  earthen  ves- 
sels and  bake  them  in  the  sun. 
In  some  of  these  things  they  cer- 
tainly surpassed  their  brethren  of 
New  England,  though  their  arms 
and  implements  are  quite  like 
those  used  farther  north.  Then 
inasmuch  as  all  the  tools  they  had 
to  work  with  were  of  the  rudest 
sort,  being  shaped  out 


of  stone  or  bone,  so  the 
making  of  most  things 
cost  them  a  great  deal 
of  time  and  labor,  and 
hence  the  mechanical 
arts  in  use  among  them 
were  such  only  as  spring 

from  the  first  and  most  pressing  wants  of  a  people,  as  is 
everywhere  the  case  in  the  history  of  primitive  man.1 

It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  what  we  are  told 
about  these  Florida  Indians  is  written  by  their  enemies. 
Therefore,  when  their  courage  is  praised,  we  feel  that 
they  must  have  deserved  it.  Perhaps  what  most  aston- 
ishes us  about  the  narratives  themselves  is  the  cold- 


FLOBIDA  WABHIOR. 


22  THE   INDIANS   OF   FLORIDA. 

blooded  way  in  which  they  recount  the  slaughter  made 
of  these  Indians,  who  seem  hardly  to  have  been  con- 
sidered in  the  light  of  human  beings. 

It  would  seem  as  if  the  ill-repute  of  the  Spaniards 
must  have  gone  before  them,  for  upon  nearing  the 
Florida  shore  the  invaders  saw  smokes  everywhere  curl- 
ing above  it,  which  they  soon  found  were  lighted  for  the 
purpose  of  warning  the  inhabitants  to  be  on  their  guard. 

The  first  Indians  met  with  were  instantly  set  upon  by 
De  Soto's  horsemen,  who  had  nearly  killed  John  Ortiz 
before  they  discovered  him  to  be  a  Christian  like  them- 
selves. Though  in  doubt  what  the  landing  of  so  many 
white  men  could  mean,  these  Indians  were  loyally 
bringing  Ortiz  as  a  peace-offering  to  the  Spanish  camp. 
It  is  worth  while  to  remember  this,  since  on  the  part 
of  the  Spaniards  the  first  act  was  one  of  violence  and 
intimidation. 

Therefore,  whenever  the  Spaniards  approached  an 
Indian  town,  the  inhabitants  fled  from  it  in  terror ;  and 
so  in  order  to  procure  guides  to  lead  them,  or  porters  to 
carry  the  baggage,  while  on  the  march,  De  Soto  found 
himself  obliged  to  seize  by  force  such  Indians  as  his 
own  men  could  lay  hands  upon.  On  these  he  put 
chains  and  caused  them  to  bear  the  burdens  of  his  sol- 
diers. If  possible,  a  chief  was  kidnapped  to  be  held  a 
hostage  for  the  good  conduct  of  his  tribe.  No  Spaniard 
was  therefore  safe  outside  his  encampment.2 

Again,  the  Spaniards  plundered  the  villages  they 
entered  of  whatever  they  stood  in  need,  just  the  same 
as  if  they  were  in  a  conquered  country.  If  they 
wanted  corn  they  took  it ;  if  they  found  any  thing  of 
value  they  helped  themselves,  without  making  any 
show  of  paying  for  it.  In  consequence,  the  exasperated 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FLORIDA.  23 

Indians  everywhere  obstructed  De  Soto's  march  so  far 
as  it  lay  in  their  power  to  do  so ;  and  on  the  other 
hand,  in  proportion  to  the  resistance  he  met  with,  De 
Soto  treated  the  natives  with  greater  or  less  severity. 
We  know  these  Indians  therefore,  for  men  of  courage, 
since  in  defence  of  their  homes  and  liberties  they  could 
fight  with  naked  breasts  against  men  in  armor,  and  with 
bows  and  arrows  against  fire-arms.8 


PALISADED   TOWN. 


So  that  by  the  time  De  Soto  arrived  at  the  Mississippi, 
he  had  lost  over  a  hundred  men  and  most  of  his  horses. 

What  such  treatment  would  be  likely  to  lead  to  is 
easily  foreseen.  Most  surely  it  sowed  the  seeds  of 
future  hostility  to  the  white  man  broadcast.  His  cruelty 
became  a  tradition.  The  Indian  has  a  long  memory 
and  is  by  nature  revengeful.  From  having  looked 
upon  the  whites  as  gods,  gifted  with  all  good  and 
beneficent  things,  the  Indian  quickly  perceived  them  to 
be  a  cruel  people  filled  with  avarice,  and  bent  on  de- 


THE  INDIANS  OF  FLORIDA. 


stroying  him.  His  worst  enemies  could  do  no  morv* 
And  thus  the  two  races  met  each  other  in  the  New  World. 
We  should  not  omit  to  mention  here  one  of  the 
strangest  things  that  fell  out  in  the  whole  course  of  the 
expedition.  When  the  Spaniards  came  to  the  town  of 
Quizaquiz,  where  they  made  some  stay,  Indians  flocked 
there  from  distant  villages  in  order  to  see  for  them- 
selves what  manner  of  people  had  come  among  them ; 
for  they  said  it  had  been  foretold  them  by  their  fathers' 
fathers  that  men  with  white  faces  should  come  and  subdue 

them,  and  now 
they  believed 
the  prophecy 
had  come  true. 
In  appear- 
ance, the  In- 
dian villages 
and  towns 
were  every- 
where much 
the  same.  The 

houses  were  little  round  cabins,  built  of  wooden  palings, 
sometimes  thatched  with  palm  leaves,  sometimes  with 
canes  or  reeds  laid  on  the  roof  in  the  manner  of  tiles. 
The  better  to  resist  the  fierce  Gulf  winds,  they  were 
built  low  on  the  ground.  In  the  colder  climates,  the 
walls  would  be  smeared  over  with  clay.  The  only 
difference  to  be  perceived  between  the  cabins  of  the 
common  sort  and  the  dwellings  of  the  chief  men  was 
that  they  were  larger  and  more  roomy  residences,  with 
sometimes  a  gallery  built  out  over  the  front,  under 
which  the  family  could  sit  in  the  heat  of  the  day. 

Every  little  knot  of  cabins  would  have  one  or  more 


A  FLORIDA  INDIAN'S  CABIN. 


THE   INDIANS   OF   FLORIDA.  25 

corn-cribs  close  beside  it.  This  was  a  loft  or  granary 
set  up  in  the  air  on  poles,  exactly  in  the  manner  now 
practised  by  the  whites,  and  for  the  like  purpose  of 
storing  up  maize  or  Indian  corn  which  was  universally 
cultivated.  Only  for  the  supplies  of  maize  everywhere 
found,  both  the  Spaniards  and  their  horses  would  soon 
have  starved,  as  corn  4  became  their  only  article  of  food, 
and  ofttimes  they  had  to  go  hungry  for  want  of  it. 


MAKING   A   CANOE. 


Men  and  women  wore  mantles  woven  either  of  the 
bark  of  trees  or  of  a  wild  sort  of  hemp  which  the 
Indians  knew  how  to  dress  properly  for  the  purpose. 
They  also  understood  the  art  of  tanning  and  dyeing 
such  skins  as  were  obtained  in  the  chase,  which  they 
also  made  up  into  garments.  Two  of  these  mantles 
made  a  woman's  usual  dress.  One  was  worn  about 
them,  hanging  from  the  waist  down,  like  a  petticoat  or 
gown,  the  other  would  be  thrown  over  the  left  shoulder 
with  the  right  arm  bared,  after  the  manner  of  the  Egyp- 


26 


THE   INDIANS    OP    FLORIDA. 


tians.  The  warriors  wore  only  this  last  mantle,  which 
allowed  them  free  use  of  the  right  arm  in  drawing  forth 
an  arrow  from  the  quiver,  or  in  bending  the  bow. 
When  dressed  up  in  his  head-gear  of  feathers,  and  wear- 
ing his  ornamented  mantle  flung  across  his  shoulder, 
bow  in  hand,  and  carrying  his  well-filled  quiver  at  his 
back,  the  Indian  warrior  made  no  unpicturesque  figure, 
even  beside  the  heavily-armed  white  man,  for  he  was  of 
a  well-proportioned  and  muscular  build,  with  good  fea- 
tures, an  eye  like  the  eagle's,  and  a  bearing  which  told 
of  the  manhood  throbbing  beneath  his  dusky  skin. 

The  Indians  of 
Florida  wor- 
shipped both  a 
god  of  good  and 
evil.  They  also 
made  sacrifice  to 
both  spirits  alike. 
In  some  places 
they  worshipped  and  sacrificed  to  the  sun  as  the  great 
life-giving  principle ;  in  others  they  had  a  curious  cus- 
tom when  any  great  lord  died,  of  sacrificing  living 
persons  to  appease  or  comfort  his  spirit  with  the  offer- 
ing of  these  other  spirits  who  were  to  serve  him  and 
bear  him  company  in  the  happy  hunting-grounds. 

Some  tribes  kept  their  dead  unburied  for  a  certain 
time  in  a  rude  sort  of  pantheon,  or  temple,  dedicated  to 
their  gods.5  Over  this  a  strict  watch  was  kept  to  guard 
against  the  intrusion  of  evil  spirits  who  were  supposed 
to  lie  in  wait,  in  the  form  of  some  prowling  beast  of 
prey.  This  custom  sprung  from  a  belief  that  the  spirits 
of  the  dead  revisited  their  mortal  bodies  at  times. 

Besides  maize,  pumpkins,  beans,  and  melons,  what- 


A  CHIEFTAIN'S  GKAVE. 


THE   INDIANS   OF   FLORIDA.  27 

ever  natural  fruits  the  country  produced  the  Indian 
lived  on.  He  hunted  and  fished.  The  summer  was  his 
season  of  plenty,  the  winter  one  of  want,  sometimes 
of  distress,  but  in  the  semi-tropical  region,  bordering 
upon  the  Gulf,  his  wants  were  fewer  and  more  easily 
supplied,  and  hence,  as  a  rule, 
life  was  freer  from  hardship 
than  in  more  northern  climes. 

The  stronger  nations  made  war 
upon  the  weaker,  but  treaties 
were  duly  respected.  The  van- 
quished were  compelled  to  pay 
tribute  to  the  conquerors  or  join 
themselves  with  some  stronger 
tribe  than  their  own.  The  lan- 
guages differed  so  much  with 
different  nations,  that  De  Soto 
found  he  must  have  a  new  in- 
terpreter for  every  new  nation 
he  visited ;  nevertheless  the  In- 
dians quickly  learned  to  speak 
the  Spanish  tongue.  In  public  the 
people  behaved  with  great  pro- 
priety, showed  respect  for  their 
rulers,  and  often  confounded  De 
Soto,  who  pretended  to  super- 
natural powers,  by  the  shrewdness  of  their  replies. 
For  instance,  when  the  Spaniard  gave  out  that  he  was 
the  child  of  the  sun,  a  Natchez  chief  promptly  bid  him 
dry  up  the  river,  and  he  would  believe  him.  In  some 
places  the  Indians  greeted  the  Spaniards  with  songs 
and  music.  Their  instruments  were  reeds  hung  with 
tinkling  balls  of  gold  or  silver.  When  the  chieftain,  or 


PROCESSIONAL  FANS. 


THE   IKDIAKS   OF  FLORIDA. 


cacique,  went  abroad  in  state,  men  walked  by  his  side 
carrying  screens  elegantly  made  of  the  bright  plumage 
of  birds.  These  were  borne  at  the  end  of  a  long  staff. 

The  Spaniards  found  the  fertile  parts  of  the  country 
everywhere  crowded  with  towns,  and  very  populous. 
But  they  did  not  find  the  gold6  they  coveted  so  much. 
They  called  the  Indians  a  people  ignorant  of  all  the 
blessings  of  civilization,  but  to  their  honor  be  it  also 
said,  they  were  free  from  the  vices  by  which  it  is 
accompanied  and  degraded. 


1  PRIMITIVE  MAN.    All  the  articles 
named  as  being  found  in  common  lise 
among  the  Florida  Indians  have  been 
taken  from  the  burial  mounds  which  exist 
in  the  States  of  Ohio,  Georgia,  North 
Carolina,    Tennessee,    Wisconsin,    etc. 
And  all  are  more  or  less  referred  to  as  so 
many  evidences  of  an  extinct  civilization. 

2  NARVAEZ  pursued  the  same  policy, 
and  met  with  like  treatment. 

3  FIRE-ARMS    of  that   period  were 
very    clumsy    weapons    indeed.      The 
arquebus  was  a  short  hand-gun,  the  cal- 
iver  longer,  and  with  the  help  of  a  slow- 
match  could  be  fired  from  a  rest.    Only 
a  certain  proportion  of  the  infantry  were 
thus  armed ;  the  rest  carried  pikes. 

4  CORN.    The  Indians'  corn-mill  was 
a  smooth  round  hole  worn  in  the  rock. 


A  stone  pestle  was  used.  The  coarse 
meal  mixed  with  water  or  tallow,  or 
both,  was  then  wrapped  in  leaves,  and 
baked  in  hot  ashes. 

8  BURIAL  PLACES.  Upon  finding 
one  of  these  receptacles  for  the  dead,  a 
Franciscan  of  Narvaez'  company,  who 
declared  the  practice  idolatrous,  caused 
all  the  bodies  to  be  burnt,  thereby  much 
incensing  the  natives. 

6  GOLD.  Hearing  the  Spaniards 
always  asking  for  gold,  the  natives 
shrewdly  made  use  of  it  to  rid  them- 
selves of  these  unwelcome  visitors,  by 
sending  them  farther  and  farther  away. 
In  reality  the  Indians  had  almost  none 
of  the  precious  metals,  but  the  finding  of 
a  few  trinkets  among  them  seems  to 
have  dazzled  De  Solo's  eyea. 


HOW  NEW  MEXICO  CAME  TO  BE  EXPLORED. 

"Northward,  beyond  the  mountains  we  will  go, 
Where  rocks  lie  covered  with  eternal  snow»" 

IN  the  disasters  of  Narvaez  and  De  Soto,  the  movement 
from  the  side  of  Florida  towards  the  West  had  met  with 
an  untimely  check.  But,  strangely  enough,  it  made  prog- 
ress in  another  quarter  through  these  very  misfortunes. 


HOW   NEW   MEXICO   CAME   TO   BE   EXPLORED.       29 

For  while  De  Soto  was  vainly  seeking  for  gold  on 
that  side,  his  countrymen  were  bestirring  themselves 
in  the  same  business  in  a  quite  different  direction,  as 
we  shall  see. 

At  this  time  it  was  Don  Antonio  de  Mendoza  who 
was  the  emperor 's  viceroy  in  Mexico.  Now  Mendoza 
aimed  to  gain  distinction  with  his  sovereign  by  being  the 


BOCK   INSCRIi»TIONS,   NEW   MEXICO. 


first  who  should  discover  and  make  known  to  the  world, 
all  the  unexplored  region  lying  north  of  Mexico,  which 
was  accounted  as  rich  as  any  yet  known  to  the  Span- 
iards. Most  of  all,  perhaps,  Mendoza  wished  to  find  the 
land's  end  in  that  northern  direction,  as  by  doing  so  he 
would  complete  the  work  of  putting  a  girdle  round  the 
continent,  and  gain  the  glory  of  it  for  himself. 

Various  efforts  were  making  to  do  this  both  by  land 
and  sea.1  And  curiously  enough  these  efforts  came 
from  the  West. 


30       HOW   NEW   MEXICO   CAME   TO   BE   EXPLORED. 

For  the  purpose  in  hand  Mendoza  had  with  him  in 
Mexico  two  or  three  survivors  2  of  Narvaez'  expedition, 
who,  in  the  most  wonderful  manner,  had  made  their 
way  overland  through  the  unknown  regions  of  the 
North,  from  Florida  into  Mexico.  These  men  told 
the  viceroy,  Mendoza,  that  the  natives  who  dwelt  among 
the  mountains  to  the  north  were  a  very  rich  people, 
who  lived  in  great  cities  and  had  gold  and  silver  in 
abundance.  Mendoza  also  held  captive  some  Indians 
whose  homes  were  in  that  far-away  country,  which  he 
was  now  meditating  how  to  conquer. 

Yet  two  important  obstacles  met  Mendoza  at  the 
start.  In  the  first  place,  the  unknown  country,  which 
the  Spaniards  vaguely  knew  by  the  name  of  Cibola,3 
could  be  reached  only  through  mountain  defiles,  so 
rugged  and  inaccessible  that  men  questioned  whether  it 
could  be  reached  at  all.  Nature  had  admirably  adapted 
it  for  defence.  Clearly,  then,  a  few  resolute  men  might 
easily  defend  their  country  against  a  host,  and  the 
Spaniards  having  reason  to  expect  the  most  determined 
resistance  found  a  twofold  hinderance  in  their  way. 

The  second  obstacle,  the  Spaniards  had  created  for 
themselves,  by  making  slaves  of  all  natives  taken  in 
arms.  Rather  than  be  slaves  the  Indians  had  fled  into 
the  mountain  fastnesses.  As  their  fear  of  the  Span- 
iards was  very  great,  these  fugitives  secreted  themselves 
in  the  most  inaccessible  places,  choosing  rather  to  live 
like  wild  beasts  than  be  branded  like  cattle  with  hot 
irons,  and  nursing  their  hatred  of  their  oppressors. 
Not  venturing  to  come  down  into  the  open  valleys 
where  they  would  be  at  the  mercy  of  their  conquerors, 
these  unhappy  people  lived  in  caves,  or  in  stone  dwell- 
ings perched  high  among  the  rocks,  where  they  could 


HOW    NKW    .MEXICO   CAME   TO   BE   EXPLORED.      31 


NEW   MEXICO.  —  ROUTE   OF   SPANISH   INVADERS. 


32       HOW   NEW   MEXICO   CAME   TO    BE   EXPLORED. 

at  least  breathe  the  air  of  liberty  unmolested.  Those 
who  formerly  lived  in  the  valleys  had  also  fled  to  the 
mountains  when  they  heard  of  the  Spaniards'  coming. 
So  the  Spaniards  would  have  to  contend  not  only  with 
nature,  but  with  a  brave  and  a  hostile  people,  if  they 
attempted  to  subdue  them. 

Considering  that  great  difficulties  are  often  overcome 
or  results  accomplished  by  simple  means,  the  viceroy 
took  a  poor  barefooted  friar4  from  his  cell,  gave  him 
one  of  Narvaez'  men  for  a  guide,  and  with  a  few 
natives  of  the  country  sent  him  out  to  explore  the 
unknown  wilds.  Upon  reaching  Culiacan,  which  was 
the  most  northerly  place  the  Spaniards  had  made  their 
way  to,  the  captive  Indians  were  sent  ahead  with  mes- 
sages of  peace  and  good-will  to  the  distrustful  natives, 
who  took  good  care  to  keep  out  of  the  way. 

These  promises  of  peace  induced  a  great  many  of  the 
natives  to  come  down  from  the  mountains;  and  once 
there  they  were  easily  won  over  with  gifts  and  kind 
words,  and  in  gratitude  for  the  promise  not  to  capture 
and  enslave  them  as  they  had  done,  told  the  Spaniards  to 
go  and  come  as  freely  as  they  chose.  The  natives  were 
then  sent  home  to  spread  the  news  among  their  brethren. 

The  way  being  thus  opened,  the  friar  and  his  party 
set  forth  by  one  route,  while  still  another  party,  led  by 
Vasquez  de  Coronado,5  went  forward  by  a  different  one, 
on  the  same  errand.  Of  the  two  parties,  that  of  the 
friar  alone  succeeded  in  penetrating  far  into  the  coun- 
try, and  the  information  he  brought  back  now  reads 
more  like  a  story  from  the  Arabian  Nights  than  the 
sober  record  of  one  already  well  versed  in  the  country 
and  people,  such  as  Mendoza  says  he  believed  Father 
Marco  to  be.  Yet  the  father  is  thought  to  have  reached 


HOW   NEW   MEXICO   CAME   TO   BE   EXPLORED.       33 

Cibola,  or  Zufii,  which  was  the  object  of  his  journey, 
when  the  murder  of  his  negro  guide  caused  him  to 
hasten  back  with  all  speed  to  the  Spanish  settlements. 

So  these  attempts,  as  well  as  a  second  made  by 
Coronado  in  the  following  year,  were  fruitless  in  every 
thing  except  the  formal  act  of  taking  possession  of  the 
country,  and  the  acquisition  of  some  imperfect  geo- 
graphical knowledge  about  the  valleys  of  the  Colorado,6 
the  Gila,7  and  the  Rio  Grande  del  Norte.8  About  all 
we  can  say  of  them  is  that  the  explorers  went  through 
the  country. 

As  in  Florida,  so  here  a  long  period  of  inaction  fol- 
lowed these  failures.  In  both  cases  the  Spaniards  had 
come  and  seen,  but  not  conquered.  The  Mississippi 
flowed  on  untroubled  to  the  sea,  the  heart  of  the  con- 
tinent still  kept  its  secret  fast  locked  in  the  bosom  of 
its  hills.  But  we  know  now  that  the  gold  and  silver 
the  Spaniards  craved  so  much  to  possess  were  there 
waiting  for  the  more  successful  explorers. 

It  is  forty  years  before  we  again  hear  of  any  serious 
effort  made  to  search  out  the  secrets  of  this  land  of 
mystery.  The  Church  then  took  the  matter  in  hand. 
It  was  wisely  decided  that  the  best  way  to  conquer  the 
people  was  to  convert  them.  Accordingly  two  pious 
Franciscans  set  out  from  the  Spanish  settlements  in 
New  Biscay9  on  this  errand.  This  time  they  penetrated 
into  the  country  by  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  under 
protection  of  a  few  soldiers,  who,  after  conducting  the 
fathers  to  a  remote  part  of  this  valley,  left  them  to 
pursue  their  pious  work  alone,  and  themselves  returned 
to  New  Biscay.  Hearing  nothing  from  these  missiona- 
ries, those  who  had  sent  them  fitted  out  an  expedition 
in  the  following  year  — 1582  —  to  go  in  search  of  them. 


31       HOW    NEW    MEXICO    CAME   TO    BE    EXPLORED. 

This  rescuing  party  brought  back  a  more  exact  knowl 
edge  of  the  country  and  people  than  had  so  far  been 
obtained  through  all  the  many  explorers  put  together. 

In  proportion,  as  they  advanced  up  the  Rio  Grande, 
these  explorers  found  everywhere  very  populous  towns. 
The  people  lived  well  and  contentedly.  Some  were 


JUNCTION   OF  THE   GILA  AND  COLORADO. 


found  who  had  even  kept  the  faith  taught  them  by 
Christians,10  long  ago,  but  in  general  they  worshipped 
idols  in  temples  built  for  the  purpose.  In  the  natives 
themselves  the  Spaniards  remarked  a  wide  difference. 
Some  went  almost  naked,  and  lived  in  poor  hovels  of 
mud  covered  with  straw  thatch.  Others,  again,  would 
be  clothed  in  skins,  and  live  in  houses  four  stories  high. 


HOW    NEW    MEXICO    CAME   TO    BE    EXPLORED.        35 

Often  the  natives  showed  the  Spaniards  cotton  mantles 
skilfully  woven  in  stripes  of  white  and  blue,  of  their 
own  making  and  dyeing,  which  were  much  admired. 
It  seemed  for  the  most  part  a  land  of  thrift  and  plenty, 
for  the  towns  were  populous  beyond  any  thing  the  Span- 
iards had  ever  dreamed  of.  And  the  farther  north  the 
explorers  went,  the  better  the  condition  of  the  people 
became.  Finding  themselves  in  a  land  much  like  Old 
Mexico,  in  respect  of  its  mountains,  rivers,  and  forests, 
the  explorers  gave  it  the  name  of  New  Mexico. 

One  of  the  greatest  towns  visited,  called  A  coma,11 
contained  above  six  thousand  persons.  It  was  built 
upon  the  level  top  of  a  high  cliff,  with  no  other  way  of 
access  to  it  than  by  steps  hewn  out  of  the  solid  rock 
which  formed  the  cliff.  The  sight  of  this  place  made 
the  Spaniards  wonder  not  a  little  at  the  skill  and  fore- 
sight shown  in  planning  and  building  these  natural 
fortresses,  which  nothing  but  famine  could  conquer. 
All  the  water  was  kept  in  cisterns.  But  this  was  not 
all  the  aptitude  these  people  showed  in  overcoming 
obstacles  or  supplying  needs.  Their  cornfields  lay  at 
some  distance  from  the  town.  In  this  country  it  hardly 
ever  rains.  So  the  want  of  rain  to  make  the  corn  grow 
was  supplied  by  digging  ditches  to  bring  the  water  from 
a  neighboring  stream  into  the  fields.  We  therefore  see 
how  conditions  of  soil  and  climate  had  taught  the 
Indians  the  uses  of  irrigation.12 

Turning  out  of  the  valley  of  the  Rio  Grande,  to  the 
west,  the  explorers  at  length  came  to  the  province  of 
Zufii,  where  many  Spanish  crosses  were  found  standing 
just  as  Coronado  had  left  them  forty  years  before. 
Here  our  Spaniards  heard  of  a  very  great  lake,  situated 
at  a  great  distance,  where  a  people  dwelt  who  wore  brace- 


36       HOW   NEW   MEXICO   CAME  TO   BE   EXPLORED. 

lets  and  earrings  of  gold.  Part  of  the  company  were 
desirous  of  going  thither  at  once,  but  the  rest  wished  to 
return  into  New  Biscay  in  order  to  give  an  account  of 
all  they  had  seen  and  heard.  So  only  the  leader  with  a 
few  men  went  forward,  meeting  everywhere  good  treat- 
ment from  the  natives,  who  in  one  place,  we  are  told, 


ORGAN   MOUNTAINS. 


showered  down  meal  before  the  Spaniards,  for  their 
horses  to  tread  upon,  feasting  and  caressing  their  strange 
visitors  as  long  as  they  remained  among  them. 

These  explorers  returned  to  Old  Mexico  in  July, 
1583,  by  the  valley  of  the  Pecos,13  to  which  stream  they 
gave  the  name  of  River  of  Oxen,  because  they  saw 
great  herds  of  bison 14  feeding  all  along  its  course. 


HOW  NEW  MEXICO  CAME  TO  BE  EXPLORED.   37 

Out  of  these  discoveries  and  reports  came  ne\f 
attempts  to  plant  a  colony  on  the  Rio  Grande.  Noth- 
ing prospered,  however,  until  1598,  when  Juan  de 
Oiiate  15  invaded  New  Mexico  at  the  head  of  a  force 
meant  to  thoroughly  subdue  and  permanently  hold 
it.  Ofiate  was  named  governor  under  the  viceroy. 
These  Spaniards  established  themselves  on  the  Ric 
Grande,  not  far  from  where  Santa  Fe  now  is.  Most  ol 
the  village  Indians  submitted  themselves  to  the  Span- 
iards, whose  authority  over  them  was,  at  best,  little 
more  than  nominal,  though  the  roving  tribes,  the  fierce 
Apaches  and  warlike  Navajoes,  never  forgot  their 
hereditary  hatred  to  the  Spaniards,  with  whom  they 
kept  up  an  incessant  warfare. 

With  this  expedition  came  a  number  of  Franciscan 
•Missionaries  who,  as  soon  as  a  town  was  gained  over^ 
established  a  mission  for  the  conversion  of  the  natives. 
In  1601  Santa  Fe*  was  founded  and  made  the  capital 
In  thirty  years  more  the  Catholic  clergy  had  established 
as  many  as  fifty  missions  which  gave  religious  instrue 
tion  to  ninety  towns  and  villages. 

New  Mexico  had  now  reached  her  period  of  greatest 
prosperity  under  Spanish  rule.  For  fifty  years  more 
the  country  rather  stood  still  than  made  progress.  The 
Spaniards  were  too  overbearing,  and  the  old  hostility 
too  deep,  for  peace  to  endure.  Then,  the  system  of 
bondage  which  the  Spaniards  brought  with  them  from 
Old  Mexico,  and  most  unwisely  put  in  practice  here, 
bore  its  usual  bitter  fruit.  Determined  to  be  slaves  no 
longer,  in  1680  the  native  New  Mexicans  rose  in  a 
body,  and  drove  the  invaders  out  of  the  country  with 
great  slaughter.  Upon  the  frontier  of  Old  Mexico  the 
fugitives  halted,  and  then  founded  El  Paso  del  Norte, 


38       HOW   NEW   MEXICO  CAME  TO  BE   EXPLORED. 

which  they  considered  the  gateway  to  New  Mexico,  and 
so  named  it.  It  took  the  Spaniards  twelve  years  to 
recover  from  this  blow.  By  that  time  little  was  left 
to  show  they  had  ever  been  masters  of  New  Mexico. 
But  a  new  invasion  took  place,  concerning  which  few 
details  remain,  though  we  do  know  it  resulted  in  a 
permanent  conquest  before  the  end  of  the  century. 


EL  PASO  DEL   NORTH. 


As  far  back  as  1687  Father  Kino  had  founded  a  mis- 
sion on  the  skirt  of  the  country  lying  round  the  head  of 
the  Gulf  of  California,  to  which  the  Spaniards  gave  the 
name  of  Pimeria.16  It  will  be  noticed  that  once  again 
they  were  following  up  the  traces  of  Father  Marco  and 
Coronado.  When  the  Spaniards  took  courage  after  this 
defeat,  and  again  entered  New  Mexico,  Kino  (1693) 
founded  other  missions  in  the  Gila  country  which  in 
time  grew  to  be  connecting  links  between  New  Mexico 
and  California,  in  what  is  now  Arizona.17 


i io\v  M:\V  M i:\ico  I\VMK  TO  BE  EXPLORED.      39 


1  BY  LAND  AND  SKA.  As  rival-*, 
ooth  Cortez  ami  Mcndozu  strove  to  be 
t>i-forehaiul  with  each  other.  <'.nt--/ 
despatched  I'lloa  from  Acapulco,  north- 
\vani,  .Inly,  15:>U.  Alarcon,  r-ailing  by 
•  ler  in  r>4",  tr<.es  to  the 
head  of  the  Oulf  of  California,  and  BO 
tin, I-  the  Colorado  Kiv.  r,  while  a  laud 
force,  uiulci  Coronado,  inarched  north 
to  act  in  concert  with  Alurcou. 

*  SURVIVORS  OP  NARYAEZ'  EXPE- 
DITION   (FLORIDA,    l-V.N).     The    chief 
nmoiiK  these  was  Alvar  Nunez,  sorae- 
times  called  raheca  de  Vuca  (literally 
r..\\--  lira. I  .  who  had  i>ee:i  treasurer  to 

.he  expedition  ..[   Narvaez. 

8  CIBOLA.  The  Zuiil  country  of  our 
own  day.  Supposed  to  he  tU-iivcil  from 
-Cibolo,  the  Mexican  hull,  ami  therefore 
applied  to  the  country  of  the  l>i-on. 
Cihola  i*  on  an  English  map  of 
my  possession.  Xuni  is  thirty  luileu 
•outh  of  Fort  Win^ate. 

4    I'ooi;      i '.  A  KE  FOOTED     FRIAR     WOS 

Marco  de  Niza  (Mark  of  Nice),  a  friar 
of  the  Franciscan  order.  For  a  long 
time  his  story  was  doubted.  It  in,  in 
fact,  an  exa«:ui-r:ited  account  of  what  is, 
clraily,  a  true  occurrence. 

•  VASQUEZ    DE    CORONADO.     (See 
note  1.) 

«  COLORADO  (Co-Ior  ah'-doe)  Span 
i-h,  meaning  rudily  or  red.  First  called 
Tizon,  meaning  a  firebrand. 

7  GlLA,  pronounced  1  lee  la 


•  Rio  GRANDE  DEL  NORTE,  Span- 
ish, Grout  Kiver  of  the  North.     I  sually 
called,  simply,  Rio  Grande. 

•  NEW  BISCAY.   Northernmost  prov. 
ince     of     Mexico,    capital    Chihuahuu 

(Shei-'wah  wuh). 

><>  BY  CHRISTIANS.  Cabe^adeVaca 
and  hi»  compunions. 

11  At  OMA,  one  of  the  -even  citie«  of 
Cibola;  forty-tive  miles  south  of  old 
Foil  Wiugale. 

'»  IHKI..XTI..N.  Without  U,  It  would 
hardly  be  potwible  to  raiae  crops  in  New 
Mexico  to-day. 

18  VALLEY  op  TECOS.  £a«t  of,  and 
parallel  with  that  of  the  Rio  Grande. 

>«  BISON.  Cabeca  de  Vaca  U  the  fust 
to  mention  this  animal.  One  is  said  to 
have  been  kept  aa  a  show  in  Montczuma's 
garden,  where  the  Spaniards  saw  it  for 
the  first  time.  See  note  3. 

<•  JUAN  DE  ORATE.  Hopeless  con- 
fusion exists  concerning  the  proper  date 
of  this  invasion. 

18  PIXBRIA  essentially  corresponds 
with  Arizona.  It  took  this  name  from 
the  Piraos  Indians  of  the  Gulf. 

"  ARIZONA,  or  Arizuma,  a  name 
given  by  the  Spaniards  to  denote  the 
mineral  wealth  of  llraeria,  where  silver 
and  gold  were  said  to  exist  in  virgin 
masses.  Silver  ores  were,  in  fact,  dis- 
covered by  the  Spaniards  at  an  early 
day.  Originally  part  of  Senora  (So- 
nora),  Old  Mexico. 


"THE  MARVELLOUS  COUNTRY." 

"Antiquity  here  Hues,  speaks,  and  cries  out  to  the  traveller,  Sta,  viator,"  — 
V.  Hugo,  The  Rhine. 

MENTION  has  been  made  of  the  towns  which  the 
Spaniards  came  to  in  the  course  of  their  marchings  up 
and  down  the  country.  Men  had  told  them,  in  all 
soberness,  that  far  away  in  the  north-west  seven  flour- 


40  "THE  MARVELLOUS   COUNTRY.*' 

ishing  cities,1  wondrous  great  and  rich,  lay  hid  among 
the  mountains.  We  remember  that  their  first  expedi- 
tions were  planned  to  reach  these  seven  cities.  Now, 
when,  at  last,  the  Spaniards  did  come  to  them,  these 
wonderful  cities  proved  to  be  large,  but  not  rich,  full 
of  people,  though  by  no  means  such  as  the  white  men 
expected  to  see  there. 

Though  sorely  vexed  to  think  they  had  come  so  far 
to  find  so  little,  the  Spaniards  were  very  much  aston- 
ished by  the  appearance  of  these  cities,  the  like  of 
which  they  had  never  seen  before.  So  these  cities  hid 
away  among  desert  mountains  were  long  remembered 
and  often  talked  about. 

But  these  cities  were  not  cities  at  all,  as  the  term  is 
now  understood.  Instead  of  many  houses  spread  out 
over  much  ground,  the  builders  plainly  aimed  at  putting 
a  great  many  people  into  a  little  space.  Yet  the  cities 
they  built  were  neither  simply  walled  towns,  nor  simply 
fortresses,  but  a  skilful  combination  of  both. 

In  the  open  plain  they  commonly  consisted  of  one 
great  structure  either  enclosed  by  a  high  wall,  or  else 
so  built  round  it  that  wall  and  building  were  one. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  the  pueblo  2  stood  upon  a  height, 
the  houses  would  be  built  all  in  blocks,  and  have  streets 
running  through  them,  though  in  other  respects  the 
manner  of  building  was  everywhere  the  same. 

In  either  case,  this  style  of  architecture  made  them 
look  less  like  the  peaceful  abodes  of  peaceful  men, 
than  the  strongholds  of  a  warlike  and  predatory  race, 
whence  the  inmates  might  sally  forth  upon  their  weaker 
neighbors,  just  as  the  lords  of  feudal  times  did  from 
the  rock-built  castles  of  the  Rhine.  It  is  plain  they 
had  grown  up  out  of  the  necessity  for  defence,  as  every 


"THE   MARVELLOUS   COUNTRY.  47 

thing  else  was  sacrificed  to  its  demands,  and  we  know 
that  necessity  is  the  mother  of  invention. 

The  single  great  house,  in  which  all  the  inhabitants 
lived  together,  is  perhaps  the  most  curious.  Let  us 
suppose  this  to  be  a  three-story  building,  parted  off  into 
from  sixty  to  a  hundred  little  rooms,  with  something 


A    I'UEBLO    KESTOKED. 


like  a  thousand  people  living  in  it.  Could  the  outer 
wall  be  taken  away,  the  whole  edifice  would  look  like  a 
monstrous  honeycomb,  and  in  fact  the  pueblo  was  noth- 
ing else  than  a  human  hive,  as  we  shall  presently  see." 

Now  the  city  of  Acoma  is  one  of  those  which  are 
built  upon  a  height.  The  builders  chose  the  flat  top 
of  a  barren  sandstone  cliff,  containing  about  ten  acres, 


42  "THE  MABVELLOUS   COUNTRY." 

which  rises  about  three  hundred  feet  above  the  plain. 
In  New  Mexico  such  table-lands  are  called  mesas,  from 
mesa,  the  Spanish  word  meaning  table.  Therefore, 
while  no  one  knows  its  age,  or  history,  all  agree  that 
Acoma  must  go  far  back  into  the  past.  A  coma  was  so 
strongly  built  that  to-day  it  looks  hardly  different  from 
what  it  did  when  the  Spaniards  first  saw  it,  perched  on 
the  top  of  its  rock,  in  1582. 

We  see  then  in  the  builders  of  Acoma  a  people  gifted 
with  a  much  higher  order  of  intelligence  than  the  Red 
Indian,  who  is  always  found  living  in  huts,  or  hovels, 
of  the  rudest  possible  kind.  The  wild  Indian  always 
carries  his  house  about  with  him,  and  so  is  ever  ready, 
at  a  moment's  notice,  to 

"  Fold  his  tent,  like  the  Arabs, 
And  as  silently  steal  away." 

The  sedentary  Indian  sometimes  patterned  his  after  the 
burrowing  animals,  like  the  beaver,  and  sometimes  after 
the  birds  of  the  air,  like  the  sparrow. 

Now  to  describe  Acoma  itself.  It  consists  of  ranges 
of  massive  buildings  rising  in  successive  tiers  from  the 
ground.  The  second  story  is  set  a  little  back  from 
the  first,  and  the  third  a  little  back  from  the  second,  so 
leaving  a  space  in  front  of  each  range  of  buildings  for 
the  inhabitants  or  sentinels  to  walk  about  in,  in  peace- 
ful times,  or  send  down  missiles  upon  the  heads  of  their 
enemies  in  time  of  war.  By  running  up  the  outer  wall 
of  each  story,  for  a  few  feet  higher  than  this  platform, 
the  builders  made  what  is  called  a  parapet  in  military 
phrase,  meant  for  the  protection  of  the  defenders.  There 
were  no  doors  or  windows  except  in  the  topmost  tier. 
Accina,  then,  was  a  castle  built  upon  a  rock. 


"THE   MARVELLOUS   COUNTRY.' 


43 


It  would  seem  that  only  birds  of  the  air  or  creeping' 
things  could  gain  admittance  to  such  a  place.  Indeed, 
there  was  no  other  way  for  the  inhabitants  themselves 
to  enter  their  dwellings  except  by  climbing  up  ladders 
set  against  the  outer  walls  of  the  building  for  the  pur- 
pose. In  this  manner  one  could  climb  to  the  first  plat- 
form, then  to  the  second,  but  could  not  get  in  till  he 


^ 


came  to  the  roof,  through  which  he  descended  by  a  trap 
door  into  liis  own  quarters. 

The  whole  collection  of  buildings  being  divided  by 
partition  walls  into  several  blocks,  each  containing  sixty 
or  seventy  houses,  is,  practically,  the  apartment  hotel  of 
to-day.  The  material  commonly  used  was  adobe,3  or 
bricks  dried  and  hardened  in  the  sun.  Such  a  building 
could  not  be  set  on  fire  or  its  walls  battered  down  with 
any  missiles  known  to  its  time. 

We  see  then  that  the  Pueblo  Indians  must  have  had 
enemies  whom  they  feared,  —  enemies  at  once  aggres* 


44 


"THE   MARVELLOUS   COUNTRY." 


sive,  warlike,  and  probably  much  more  numerous  than 
themselves.  How  well  they  were  able  to  meet  these 
conditions,  their  houses  show  us  to  this  day. 

Living  remote  from  the  whites,  these  people,  like 
those  of  Old  Zuni,  have  kept  more  of  their  primitive 
manners,  and  live  more  as  their  fathers  did,  than  those 
do  who  inhabit  the  pueblos  of  the  Rio  Grande,  where 
they  have  been  longer  in  contact  with  Europeans. 


CASA   GRANDE.   GILA  VALLEY. 


Forty  years  ago  they  knew  only  a  few  Spanish  words, 
which  they  had  learned  when  Spaniards  held  their 
country.  In  a  remarkable  manner,  the  people  have 
kept  their  own  tongue  and  nationality  free  from  foreign 
taint.  From  this  fact  we  are  led  to  think  them  much 
the  same  people  that  they  were  long,  long  ago. 

There  are  other  buildings  in  the  country  of  the  Gila, 
called  Casas  Grandest  or  Great  Houses,  which  are 
quite  different  from  those  described  in  this  chapter,  but 
were  apparently  built  for  a  similar  purpose  of  defence. 


"THE  MARVELLOUS   COUNTRY."  45 

1  SEVEN  CITIES.  See  preceding  describes  one  seen  on  the  Gila :  "  About 

chapter.  the  noon  halt  a  large  building  was  seen 

*  PUEBLO,  Spanish  for  town  or  vil-  on  the  left.  It  was  the  remains  of  a 

lage.  three-story  mud  house,  sixty  feet  square, 

8  ADOBE,  Spanish.  The  same  mate-  and  pierced  for  doors  and  windows, 

rial  is  much  used  throughout  New  The  walls  were  four  feet  thick.  The 

Mexico,  Arizona,  California,  Utah,  and  whole  interior  of  the  building  had  been 

Colorado.  burned  out  and  much  defaced."  Casa 

4  CASAS  GRANDES,  or  Casas  Mon-  Grande  is  on  a  map  of  1720;  is  on  the 

tezuraaa.  Lieut.  Emory,  U.S.A.,  thus  Gila. 


FOLK   LORE   OF  THE   PUEBLOS, 

WHILE  professing  Christianity,  the  Pueblo  Indians 
have  mostly  kept  some  part  of  the  idolatrous  faith  of 
their  fathers.  Thus  the  two  have  become  curiously 
blended  in  their  worship.  We  often  see  the  crucifix, 
or  pictures  of  the  Virgin  hanging  on  the  walls  of  their 
dwellings,  but  neither  the  coming  of  the  whites,  nor 
the  zeal  of  missionaries  could  wholly  eradicate  the 
deeply  grounded  foundations  of  their  ancient  religion. 
The  little  we  know  about  this  belief,  in  its  purity, 
comes  to  us  chiefly  in  the  form  of  legendary  lore, 
although  since  the  Zufii  have  been  studied  l  with  this 
object  we  have  a  much  clearer  conception  of  it  than 
ever  before. 

By  this  uncertain  light  we  find  it  to  be  a  religion 
of  symbols  and  mysteries,  primarily  founded  upon  the 
wondrous  workings  of  nature  for  man's  needs,  and  so 
embodying  a  philosophy  growing  out  of  her  varied 
phenomena.  Therefore  sun,  moon,  and  stars,  earth, 
sky,  and  sea,  and  all  plants,  animals,  and  men  were  sup- 
posed to  bear  a  certain  mystical  relation  to  each  other 
in  the  plan  of  the  universe.  Instead  of  one  all-supreme 
being,  the  Zufii  worshipped  many  gods  each  of  whom 


4(5  FOLK    LOIIE   OF    THE    PUEBLOS. 

was  supposed  to  possess  some  special  attribute  or  power. 
Some  were  higher,  some  lower  down  in  the  scale  of 
power. 

The  phenomena  of  nature,  being  more  mysterious, 
were  thought  to  be  more  closely  related  to  the  higher 
gods.  If  there  was  drought  in  the  land,  the  priests 
prayed  for  rain  from  the  housetops,  as  the  Prophet 
Elijah  did  in  the  wilderness.  Each  year,  in  the  month 
of  June,  they  went  up  to  the  top  of  the  highest  moun- 
tain, which  they  called  the  "  Mother  of  Rain,"  to  per- 
form some  secret  ceremony  touching  the  coming  harvest. 
And  because  rain  seldom  falls  in  this  country,  they 
made  earnest  supplication  to  water,  as  a  beneficent 
spirit,  who  ascended  and  descended  the  heavens  in  their 
sight,  and  to  the  sun  as  the  twin  deity  in  whom  lay  the 
power  of  life  and  death,  —  to  ripen  the  harvest  or  wither 
all  living  things  away  into  dust. 

Like  the  ancient  Egyptians,  of  whom  they  constantly 
remind  us,  the  Zuni  believed  animals  possessed  certain 
mystic  powers,  not  belonging  to  man,  so  investing  them 
with  a  sacred  character.  Beasts  of  prey  were  supposed 
to  have  magic  power  over  other  animals,  hence  the  bear 
stood  higher  in  the  Zuni  mythology  than  the  deer  or 
antelope.  The  Indians,  call  this  magic  power  medicine, 
but  the  Zuni  gave  it  form  to  his  own  mind  —  the  sub- 
stance of  a  thing  unseen  —  by  making  a  stone  image  of 
the  particular  animal  he  had  chosen  for  his  medicine, 
which  he  carried  with  him  to  war  or  the  chase  as  a 
charm  of  highest  virtue.  We  call  this  fetich-worship. 

Each  pueblo  had  one  or  more  close,  underground 
cells2  in  which  certain  mysterious  rites,  connected,  it 
is  balieved,  with  the  worship  of  the  people,  were  solem- 
nized* We  are  told  that,  at  Pecos,  the  priests  kept 


FOLK   LORE   OF    THE    PUEIJLOS. 


47 


watch  night  and  day  over  a  sacred  fire,  which  was  never 
suffered  to  go  out  for  a  single  moment,  for  fear  some 
calamity  would  instantly  happen  to  the  tribe.  It  is 
also  said  that  when  Pecos  was  assaulted  and  sacked  by 
a  hostile  tribe,  the  priests  kept  their  charge  over  the 
sacred  .fire  while  the  tumult  of  battle  raged  about 


KUINS   OF  PECOS. 


them.  And  when,  at  length,  the  tribe  itself  had  nearly 
died  out,  the  survivors  took  the  sacred  fire  with  them 
to  another  people,  beyond  the  mountains,  where  it  is 
kept  burning  as  the  symbol  of  an  ever-living  faith. 

Another  legend  goes  on  to  say  that  an  enormous  ser- 
pent was  kept  in  a  den  in  the  temple  of  Pecos  to  which 
on  certain  occasions  living  men  were  thrown  as  a  sacri- 
fice. Both  legends  would  seem  to  point  to  Pecos  as  a 
holy  place,  from  which  the  priests  gave  out  instruction 


18          FOLK  LORE  OF  THE  PUEBLOS. 

to  the  people,  as  of  old  they  did  from  the  temples  of 
the  heathen  gods. 

The  tradition  of  the  origin  of  the  Zuni,  as  told  by 
Mr.  Gushing,  is  almost  identical  with  that  held  by  the 
Mandans  of  the  Upper  Missouri.  Each  says  the  race 
sprung  from  the  earth  itself,  or  rather  that  the  first 
peoples  lived  in  darkness  and  misery  in  the  bowels  of 
the  earth,  until  at  length  they  were  led  forth  into  the 
light  of  day  by  two  spirits  sent  from  heaven  for  their 
deliverance,  as  the  Zuni  say,  or  by  discovering  a  way 
out  for  themselves,  as  the  Mandans  say.3 

A  tradition  of  the  Pimos  4  Indians  makes  a  beautiful 
goddess  the  founder  of  their  race.  It  says  that  in  times 
long  past  a  woman  of  matchless  beauty  resided  among 
the  mountains  near  this  place.  All  the  men  admired 
and  paid  court  to  her.  She  received  the  tributes  of 
their  devotion,  grain,  skins,  etc.,  but  gave  no  favors  in 
return.  Her  virtue  and  her  determination  to  remain 
secluded  were  equally  firm.  There  came  a  drought 
which  threatened  the  world  with  famine.  In  their  dis- 
tress the  people  applied  to  her,  and  she  gave  them  corn 
from  her  stock,  and  the  supply  seemed  endless.  Her 
goodness  was  unbounded.  One  day  as  she  was  lying 
asleep  a  drop  of  rain  fell  upon  her  and  produced  con- 
ception. A  son  was  the  issue,  who  was  the  founder  of 
the  race  that  built  these  structures. 

But  Montezuma  5  is  the  patriarch,  or  tutelary  genius, 
whom  all  the  Indians  of  New  Mexico  look  to  as  their 
coming  deliverer. 

One  tradition  runs  that  Montezuma  was  a  poor  shep- 
herd who  tended  sheep  in  the  mountains.  One  day  an 
eagle  came  to  keep  him  company.  After  a  time  the 
eagle  would  run  before  Montezuma,  and  extend  its 


FOLK  LORE  OF  THE  PUEBLOS. 


49 


wings,  as  if  inviting  him  to  seat  himself  on  its  back. 
When  at  last  Montezuma  did  so,  the  eagle  instantly 
spread  its  wings  and  flew  away  with  him  to  Mexico 
where  Montezuma  founded  a  great  people. 

Ever  since  then  the  Indians  have  constantly  watched 
for  the  second  coming  of  Montezuma,  and  thenceforth 
the  eagle  was  held  sa- 
cred, and  lias  become  a 
symbol  among  them.  He 
is  to  come,  they  say,  in 
the  morning,  at  sunrise, 
so  at  that  hour  people 
may  be  seen  on  the 
housetops  looking  ear- 
nestly toward  the  east, 
while  chanting  their 
morning  prayers,  for  like 
the  followers  of  Maho- 
met, these  people  chant 
hymns  upon  the  house- 
tops. Although  beauti- 
ful and  melodious  these 
chants  are  described  as 
being  inexpressibly  sad 
and  mournful. 

In  person  the  people  CBBEUS  GIGANTEA. 

are    well    formed    and 

noble  looking.  They  are  honest  among  themselves, 
hospitable  to  strangers,  and  unlike  nomads,  are  wholly 
devoted  to  caring  for  their  crops  and  flocks.  They  own 
many  sheep.  They  raise  corn,  wheat,  barley  and  fruit. 
One  pueblo  raises  corn  and  fruit,  another  is  noted  for  its 
pottery,  while  a  third  is  known  for  its  skill  in  weaving. 


50          FOLK  LOBE  OF  THE  PUEBLOS. 

But  after  all,  these  Pueblo  Indians  are  only  barbari- 
ans of  a  little  higher  type  than  common.  Whenever 
we  look  closely  into  their  habits  and  manners,  we  art 
struck  with  the  resemblances  existing  among  the  whole 
family  of  native  tribes.  If  we  assume  them  to  have 
known  a  higher  civilization  they  have  degenerated.  If 

we  do  not  so  assume,  the 
observation  of  three  cen- 
turies shows  them  to  have 
come  to  a  standstill  long, 
long  ago. 


PUEBLO   IDOLS. 


PUEBLO  CUSTOMS. 
When  the  harvest  time 
comes  the  people  abandon 
their  villages  in  order  to 
go  and  live  among  their 
fields,  the  better  to  watch 
over  them  while  the  har- 
vest is  being  gathered  in. 

Grain  is  threshed  by  first  spreading  it  out  upon  a 
dirt  floor  made  as  hard  as  possible,  and  then  letting 
horses  tread  it  out  with  their  hoofs.  It  is  then  win- 
nowed in  the  wind. 

The  woman,  who  is  grinding,  kneels  down  before  a 
trough  with  her  stone  placed  before  her  in  the  manner 
of  a  laundress's  wash-board.  Over  this  stone  she  rubs 
another  as  if  scrubbing  clothes.  The  primitive  corn- 
mill  is  simply  a  large  concave  stone  into  which  another 
stone  is  made  to  fit,  so  as  to  crush  the  grain  by  pressure 
of  the  hand. 

The  unfermented  dough  is  rolled  out  thin  so  that 
after  baking  it  may  be  put  up  in  rolls,  like  paper.  It 


FOLK   LORE   OF   THE   PUEBLOS. 


51 


is  then  the  color  of  a  hornet's  nest,  which  indeed  it  re- 
sembles. Ovens,  for  baking,  are  kept  on  the  housetops. 
The  processes  of  spinning  and  weaving,  than  which 
nothing  could  be  more  primitive,  are  thus  described  by 
Lieut.  Emory,  as  he  saw  it  done  on  the  Gila,  in  1846. 

"  A  woman  was  seated  on  the  ground  under  one  of  the  cotton 
sheds.  Her  left  leg  was  turned  under  with  the  sole  of  the  foot 
upward.  Between  her  great  toe  and  the  next  a  spindle,  about 
eighteen  inches  long,  with  a  single  fly,  was  put.  Ever  and  anon 
she  gave  it  a  dexterous  twist,  and  at  its  end  a  coarse  cotton  thread 
would  be  drawn  out.  This  was  their  spinning  machine.  Led  on 
by  this  primitive  display,  I  asked  for  their  loom,  pointing  first  to 
the  thread,  and  then  to  the  blanket  girded  about  the  woman's 
loins.  A  fellow  who  was  stretched  out  in  the  dust,  sunning  him- 
self, rose  lazily  up,  and  untied  a  bundle  which  I  had  supposed  to 
be  his  bow  and  arrows.  This  little  package,  with  four  stakes  in 
the  ground,  was  the  loom.  He  stretched  his  cloth  and  began  the 
process  of  weaving." 

But  these  self-taught  weavers  were  behind  their 
brethren  of  the  pueblos,  whose  loom  was  of  a  more 
improved  pattern.  One 
end  of  the  frame  of  sticks, 
on  which  the  warp  was 
stretched,  would  be  fast- 
ened to  the  floor,  and  the 
other  to  a  rafter  overhead. 
The  weaver  sat  before  this 
frame,  rapidly  moving  the 
shuttle  in  her  hand  to  and 
fro,  and  so  forming  the 
woof. 

HIEROGLYPHICS,   GILA  VALLEY. 

Pottery   was    in    com- 
mon use  among  them  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  ac- 
count of  the  Pueblo  Indians.     Jars  for  carrying  and 


52  FOLK   LORE   OF   THE   PUEBLOS. 

holding  water  were  always  articles  of  prime  necessity 
though  baskets  of  wicker-work  were  sometimes  woven 
water-tight  for  the  purpose. 

PUEBLO  GOVERNMENT.  Each  pueblo  is  under  the 
control  of  a  head  chief,  chosen  from  among  the  people 
themselves.  When  any  public  business  is  to  be  trans- 
acted, he  collects  the  principal  chiefs  in  the  under- 
ground cell,  previously  mentioned,  where  the  matter 
that  has  brought  them  together  is  discussed  and  settled. 

The  pueblos  also  have  officers,  corresponding  with 
the  mayor  and  constables  ^  of  a  city,  whose  business  it 
is  to  preserve  order.  In  every  pueblo  there  is  also  a 
public  crier  who  shouts  from  the  housetops  such  things 
as  it  may  concern  the  people  at  large  to  know. 

In  some  of  the  pueblos  there  is  an  abandoned  Span- 
ish mission  church  of  unknown  antiquity.  The  one  at 
Acoma  has  a  tower  forty  feet  high  with  two  bells  in  it, 
one  of  which  is  lettered  "  San  Pedro,  A.D.  1710."  The 
church  at  Pecos  is  a  picturesque  ruin. 

1  Zuftr  HAVE  BEEN  STUDIED  by  Mr.  surface.    Owing  to  the  weight   of   an 
F.  H.  Gushing,  who  joined  the  tribe  for  old  woman  the  vine  broke,  leaving  the 
the  purpose.  rest  entombed  as  before. 

2  UNDERGROUND     CELLS,    Spanish  *  THE    PIMOS    live  along  the  Gila, 
Estufas,  were  circular,  without  doors  or  having  moved  up  from  the  Gulf  Coast 
windows,  and  had  a  kind  of  stone  table,  within  fifty  years.    They  are  a  pastoral 
or  altar,  in  them.    One  at  Taos  was  sur-  and  agricultural  people. 

rounded  with  a  stockade,  and  entered  °  MONTEZUMA  of    the  traditions  is 

through  a  trap-door.  not  the  Montezuma  of  Spanish-conquest 

3  THE  MANDANS  SAT  that  the  roots       celebrity. 

of  a  grape-vine,  having  penetrated  into  e  MAYOR   AND    CONSTABLE.      The 

their  dark  abode,  revealed  to  them  the  first  is  called  an  al'cal'de,  the  second  an 

light  of  the  tipper  world.    By  means  of  al'gua'zil. 
his  vine,  half  the  tribe  climbed  to  the 


LAST   DAYS   OF   CHARLES    V.   AND   PHILIP   U.       53 


LAST   DAYS  OF  CHARLES   V.   AND   PHILIP   II. 

WE  have  here  readied  the  high-water-mark  of  Span- 
ish advance  into  territory  now  embraced  within  the 
United  States.  The  moment  seems  well  chosen  in 
which  to  take  a  parting  look  at  the  two  great  men  of 
their  age,  whose  talents  and  energy  had  builded  an 
empire  so  vast  that,  when  the  master-hand  was  taken 
away,  it  tottered  to  its  fall. 

LAST  DAYS  OF  CHARLES  V.  Charles  V.  is  thought 
to  have  hastened  his  death  by  the  indulgence  of  so 
strange  a  whim,  that  one  is  led  to  doubt  the  soundness 
of  his  intellect. 

He  chose,  now  in  his  lifetime,  to  have  his  own  funeral 
obsequies  performed.  For  the  purpose  he  laid  himself 
down  in  his  coffin  which  the  monks  then  lifted  on  their 
shoulders  and  bore  into  the  church.  When  the  bearers 
had  set  the  coffin  down  in  front  of  the  altar,  the  solemn 
service  for  the  dead  was  chanted,  the  Emperor  himself 
joining  in  all  the  prayers  said  for  the  repose  of  his  soul. 
In  the  hush  which  followed  the  last  office  paid  to  the 
illustrious  dead,  all  the  attending  monks  passed  silently 
out  of  the  church,  leaving  Charles  to  pray  alone  in  his 
coffin. 

"  The  chamber  in  the  Escurial  Palace  where  Philip 
II.  died  is  that  in  which  he  passed  the  three  last  year.s 
of  his  life,  nailed  by  the  gout  to  a  sofa.  Through  a 
narrow  casement,  his  alcove  commanded  a  view  of  the 
high  altar  of  the  chapel.  In  this  manner,  without 
rising,  without  quitting  his  bed,  he  assisted  every  day 
at  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  mass.  His  ministers  came 
to  work  with  him  in  this  little  chamber,  and  they  still 


54       LAST   DAYS   OF  CHARLES   V.   AND   PHILIP  IL 

show  the  little  wooden  board  which  the  king  made  use 
of  when  writing,  or  signing  his  name,  by  placing  it 
upon  his  knees." 

TOMBS  OF  CHARLES  AND  PHILIP.  "At  the  right  and 
left  of  the  altar,  at  the  height  of  about  fifteen  feet,  are 
two  large  parallel  niches  hollowed  out  in  the  form  of  a 
square.  The  one  at  the  left  is  the  tomb  of  Charles  V., 
that  at  the  right  of  Philip  II.  At  the  side  of  Philip  II., 
who  is  on  his  knees  in  the  attitude  of  prayer,  are  the 
prince,  Don  Carlos,  and  the  two  queens  whom  Philip 
successively  espoused,  all  three  also  on  their  knees  in 
prayer.  Underneath,  one  may  read  in  letters  of  gold : 

PHILIP  II.,  KING  OF  ALL  THE  SPAINS, 
OF  SICILY,  AND  OF  JERUSALEM, 
REPOSES  IN  THIS  TOMB,  WHICH  HE 
BUILT  FOR  HIMSELF  WHILE  LIVING. 

"  THE  EMPEROR  CHARLES  V.  is  also  represented  on 
his  knees  in  the  act  of  prayer.  He  too  is  surrounded 
by  a  group  of  kneeling  personages  who  are  identified  in 
the  inscription,  of  which  we  give  only  part. 

TO  CHARLES  V.,  KING  OF  THE  ROMANS, 

HIGH   AND    MIGHTY    EMPEROR,   KING    OF 

JERUSALEM,    ARCHDUKE    OF    AUSTRIA, 

HIS   SON    PHILIP. 

"All  these  statues  are  of  gilt  bronze,  of  a  grand  style 
and  admirable  effect.  Those  of  the  two  sovereigns, 
above  all,  with  their  armorial  mantles,  are  of  a  severe 
magnificence."  —  Alex.  Dumas,  the  Elder. 


SWORD  AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA. 


56 


SWORD  AND  COWN   IN   CALIFORNIA. 

CALIFORNIA  is  the  name1  given  in  an  old  Spanish 
romance  to  a  fabulous  island  of  the  sea  lying  out 
toward  the  Indies. 

After  a  time,  the  Span- 
iards found  out  that 
what  they  had  supposed 
to  be  a  large  island2  was 
really  a  peninsula,  so  the 
name  presently  spread 
to  the  mainland. 

Cabrillo 3  sailed  yet 
higher  up,  and  others 
higher  still,  till  the  work 
of  tracing  the  coast  as 
far  as  Cape  Mendocino  4 
itself  was  completed. 

Spanish  power  in  the 
New  World  received 
now  and  here  its  first 
serious  check,  though 
possibly  little  was 
thought  of  it  at  the 
time,  in  Europe.  Like 
David  before  Goliath, 

little  England  confront-  OAIWOBKIA  COAST. 

ed  the  bully  of  Europe 

where  least   expected,  with  menace  to  her   great   and 
growing  empire  of  the  West. 

The  greatest  seaman  of  his  age,  Francis  Drake,  whose 
name  was  the  terror  of  Spaniards  everywhere,  had 


56  SWORD   AND  GOWN  IN   CALIFORNIA. 

passed  the  Straits  of  Magellan  with  one  little  vessel, 
into  the  Great  South  Sea,  which  Balboa  discovered  and 
claimed  for  Spain.  Stopping  at  no  odds,  one  day  fight- 
ing and  the  next  plundering,  Drake  kept  his  undaunted 
way  a  thousand  leagues  up  the  coast.  His  ship  being 
already  full-freighted  with  the  plunder  of  the  ports  at 
which  she  had  called,  Drake  thought  to  shorten  the 
way  back  to  England  by  sailing  through  the  North-east 
Passage,5  so  outwitting  the  Spaniards  who  were  keeping 
vigilant  watch  against  his  return  southward,  —  for  his 
men  were  but  a  handful  against  a  world  of  foes,  and 
his  ship  too  precious  to  be  risked  in  fight.  So  Drake 
sailed  on  into  the  north.  He  sailed  as  far  as  the  Ore- 
gon coast,  when  the  weather  grew  so  cold  that  his  men, 
who  were  come  from  tropic  heats,  began  to  murmur. 
Drake  was  therefore  forced  to  put  his  ship  about  and 
steer  south  again,  along  the  coast,  looking  for  a  harbor 
as  he  went,  to  refit  his  ship  in.  Finding  this  harbor6  in 
38°,  the  Golden  Hind  dropped  anchor  there  on  the  17th 
of  June,  1579,  showing  a  flag  which  had  never  before 
been  seen  in  that  part  of  the  world. 

Drake  lay  quietly  at  anchor  in  this  port  for  five 
weeks.  During  all  this  time  the  natives  came  in  troops 
to  the  shore,  drawn  thither  to  see  the  strange  bearded 
white  men  who  spoke  in  an  unknown  tongue,  and 
kept  the  loud  thunder  hid  away  in  their  ship.  It  is 
even  said  that  the  king  of  that  country  took  the  crown 
off  his  own  head,  and  put  it  on  Francis  Drake's  in 
token  of  submission.  All  this  and  much  else  is  fully 
and  quaintly  set  forth  in  the  narrative  of  Master 
Fletcher,  who  was  Drake's  chaplain  on  board  the 
Golden  Hind. 

Before  leaving  this  friendly  port,  Drake  took  formal 


SWORD   AND   GOWN    IN   CALIFORNIA.  Ol 

possession  of  the  country  by  setting  up  a  post,  to  which 
a  pinto  of  brass  was  fixed,  with  Queen  Elizabeth's  name 
engraved  on  it. 

The  white  cliffs  of  the  coast  that  rose  about  him, 
would  seem  to  have  recalled  to  Drake's  mind  those  of 


Old  England,  for  he  gave  the  name  of  New  Albion  to  all 
this  great  land  he  had  merely  coasted.  We  should  not 
forget  that  Elizabeth  herself  afterwards  said  of  such 
acts  that  "discovery  is  of  little  worth  without  actual 
possession." 

Having  planted  this  thorn  in  the  side  of  the  Spanish 
Empire  of  the  West,  Drake  merrily  sailed  away  for 
England  by  way  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.7 


58 


SWORD   AND   GOWN    IN   CALIFORNIA. 


Spain  complained.    Elizabeth  listened  with  impatience. 
When  the  Spanish  ambassador  insisted  on  his  master's 

sole  right 
to  navigate 
the  western 
ocean,  the 
I  Queen  lost 
I  her  temper. 
I  She  roundly 
I  toldMendo- 
I  za  that  "the 
I  sea  and  air 
are  common 
to  all  men." 
Yet  the 
claim  itself 
shows  what 
mighty  hold 
Spain  had 

on  the  other 
^^  T 

powers.    In 

1  eight  years  the 
question  was 
fought  out  in  the 
English  Channel 
with  all  Europe 
for  spectators.  Spain 
was  so  sure  of  vic- 
tory, that  the  popu- 
lar feeling  even  got  into  the  nursery  rhymes  of  the  day. 
A  child  is  supposed  to  be  saying, 


DRAKE   SAILS  AWAY. 


"  My  brother  Don  John 
1"  o  England  is  gone, 


SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA.  59 

To  kill  the  Drake, 

And  the  queen  to  take, 

And  the  heretics  all  to  destroy."  7 

Drake  had  perhaps  done  as  much  as  any  man  to 
bring  about  the  issue.  He  was  there  in  the  thick  of 
the  fight.8 

So  the  spell  of  Spanish  invincibility  was  broken  at 
cast.  Spain  was  no  longer  mistress  of  the  seas. 

Next  on  her  brilliant  roll  of  navigators,  comes  Juan 
de  Fuca,  who  (1592)  discovered  the  straits  that  now 
bear  his  name.  Spain  still  wanting  a  harbor  in  which 
the  Manila  galleons  could  refit  when  homeward  bound, 
Sebastian  Vizcaino  (1602-1603),  sometimes  called  "  the 
Biscayner,"  entered  the  haven  of  San  Diego,  and  that 
of  Monterey,9  which  he  then  named,  as  he  also  did  the 
one  lying  within  Point  Reyes,  called  by  him  Port  San 
Francisco.10  Exploration  of  this  coast  then  ceased  for 
a  century  and  a  half. 

The  real  advance  into  California  (1768),  like  all 
other  Spanish  movements  on  this  continent,  originated 
in  a  half-monkish,  half-military  plan  for  the  conquest, 
conversion  and  civilization  of  the  country.  Enough 
was  known  of  its  soil  and  climate  to  show  how  far  both 
exceeded  the  sterile  steppes  of  New  Mexico,  where 
Spanish  advance  had  already  reached  its  farthest 
limit,  and  like  a  stream  that  meets  an  obstacle  in  its 
path,  was  turned  into  another  channel.  For  where 
plants  grow  and  rivers  flow,  God  has  fixed  the  abodes 
of  men. 

This  movement  began  n  from  the  missions  of  Lower 
California.  It  was  designed  to  extend  the  system  by 
which  Spain  had  first  conquered,  and  since  ruled, 
Mexico  into  the  unoccupied  and  little-known  province 


60 


SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA. 


of  Alta,  or  Upper,  California.  The  viceroy  was  to 
furnish  soldiers,  the  president-prelate  of  the  Franciscan 
order,  missionaries. 

Thus  coast  batteries  and  forts  were  to  be  built  for 
the  defence  of  the  best  harbors,  as  well  as  to  sustain 
the  missions  themselves,  so  forming  a  line  of  military 
strength  along  the  coast  sufficient  to  repel  assault  by 
sea  or  land,  while  the  mountains  behind  them  would 

be  a  barrier 
between  the 
mission  sand 
the  wild 
tribes  who 
lived  in  the 
great  val- 
leys  beyond. 
One  arm  was 
to  seize  up- 
on and  firm- 
ly hold  the 
country  in 
its  grasp, 

while  the  other  should  gradually  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection to  the  Catholic  faith.  Then,  with  clerical  rule 
once  established,  civil  order  was  to  come  in.  There- 
fore the  first  essential  thing  was  to  build  a  fort,  and 
the  second  a  church.  In  this  way  it  was  proposed  to 
make  rally  ing-points  for  civilization  of  these  missions,12 
although  the  plan  founded  an  oligarchy  and  nothing 
else. 

The  Spaniards  did  not  mean  to  till  the  soil  them- 
selves, but  to  make  the  Indians  do  it  for  them.  Setting 
this  scheme  at  work,  a  Franciscan  mission  was  begun 


OLD  MAP,  SHOWING  DRAKE'S  PORT. 


SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA.  61 

at  San  Diego  in  July,  1769.  The  next  year  another 
was  established  at  Monterey.  From  these  missions 
explorers  presently  made  their  way  out  to  the  valley  of 
the  San  Joaquin,  and  even  as  far  north  as  the  great  bay 
of  San  Francisco  (1772),  which  took  to  itself,  a  little 
later,  the  name  of  the  old  Port  San  Francisco,  with 
which  it  must  not  be  confounded. 

In  1776  the  Mission  of  San  Francisco  was  founded. 
Monterey  being   the   chief  settlement,  the   governor's 


CAUMKL    MISSION    CULUca. 


official  residence  was  fixed  there ;  and  now,  so  late  as 
the  period  of  American  Independence,  we  have  the 
machinery  for  civilization  in  California  fairly  set  in 
motion. 

The  plan  which  the  founders  had  proposed  to  them- 
selves also  included  the  building-up  of  pueblos,  which 
should  be  located  in  suitable  places  outside  the  missions, 
though  actually  meant  for  their  support,  and  therefore 
in  a  sense  dependencies  of  them.  But  these  pueblos 
were  to  be  inhabited  by  Spanish  colonists  only.  One 


62  SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN    CALIFORNIA. 

was  thus  begun  (1777)  at  San  Jose*,  and  a  second  (1781) 
at  Los  Angeles.  Here  then  are  plants  of  two  distinct 
types  in  the  growth  of  the  country, — native  vassals 
and  foreign  freemen. 

As,  one  by  one,  missions  were  created,  the  native 
Californians  were  told  they  must  come  and  live  in  them, 
and  submit  themselves  to  the  fostering  care  of  the  fath- 
ers, who  would  teach  them  how  to  live  as  the  whites  did, 
and  make  known  to  them  the  blessings  of  Christianity,  so 
that  their  children  might  exceed  their  fathers  in  knowl- 
edge, and  as  they  were  a  docile,  submissive  and  indolent 
people,  they  mostly  obeyed  the  order  unresistingly,  and 
were  set  to  work  building  houses,  tilling  the  soil,  or 
tending  flocks  or  herds  belonging  to  the  missions,  into 
which  it  was  the  aim  of  the  fathers  to  draw  all  the 
wealth  of  the  country. 

These  pious  fathers,  however,  thought  more  of  con- 
verting the  Indian  than  of  making  a  man  of  him.  It  is 
true  they  baptized  and  gave  him  a  Christian  name,  but 
they  held  him  in  servitude  all  the  same.  The  system 
looked  to  keeping  him  a  dependant  rather  than  rousing 
his  ambitions,  or  showing  him  how  he  might  better  his 
condition.  For  instance,  the  Indian  could  hold  no  land 
in  his  own  right.  His  labor  went  to  enrich  the  mission, 
not  himself.  He  was  fed  and  clothed  from  the  mission. 
He  was  a  mere  atom  of  society,  a  vassal  of  the  Church, 
and  was  so  treated.  Men  and  women  were  put  in  the 
stocks  or  whipped  at  the  pleasure  of  their  masters,  just 
the  same  as  in  slave  plantations.  If  an  Indian  ran  away, 
he  was  pursued  and  brought  back  by  the  military.  The 
missionaries  found  him  free,  but  took  away  his  liberty. 
In  short,  spite  of  all  the  romance  thrown  round  him, 
and  though  his  condition  was  somewhat  better  than  it 


SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA. 


63 


had  been  in  times  past,  yet  when  all  is  said,  the  mission 
Indian  was  hardly  more  than  a  serf.  Still  the  work  of 
the  missions  so  prospered  that  by  the  end  of  the  century 


SPANISH   MAP  OF  1787,   SHOWING  MISSIONS,  PRESIDIOS,  AND   ROUTES. 

there  were  eighteen  of  them  with  13,500  converts.  But 
at  this  time  there  were  no  more  than  1,800  whites  in  the 
country,  or  only  one  hundred  to  a  mission. 

Such,  briefly,  were  the  Spanish  missions  of  California, 


64 


SWORD   AND   GOWN    IN   CALIFORNIA. 


which  undertook  a  noble  work,  not  nobly  done,  which 
kept  the  word  of  promise  to  the  ear  and  broke  it  to  the 
hope. 

If  we  look  at  the  commercial  policy  of  the  province, 
and  it  is  what  we  should  most  naturally  turn  to  next, 
we  shall  find  almost  no  business  transacted  with  the 
outside  world.  Once  a  year  the  Manila  galleon  came 
to  Monterey  and  took  away  the  furs  that  had  been  col- 
lected there.  Spain's  policy  shut  out  all  other  nations 


from  her  colonies,  and  to  the  same  extent  shut  the  col- 
onies in.  So  foreign  vessels  were  forbid  to  enter  her 
ports  at  all.  To  this  fact  we  owe  the  meagre  and  uufre- 
quent  reports  of  what  was  going  on  in  the  country,  nor 
was  it  till  1786  that  the  world  learned  something  of  its 
true  condition  and  worth. 

In  that  year  a  French  discovery  ship  put  into  Mon- 
terey. Her  commander  was  La  Peyrouse,13  whom 
Louis  XVI.  had  sent  to  the  Pacific  to  look  into  the 
fur  trade  of  the  north-west  coast,  and  who,  after  touch- 


SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA.  65 

ing  there,  had  come  down  the  coast  to  refit  in  a  Span- 
ish port.  La  Peyrouse  used  the  six  weeks  of  his  stay 
in  Monterey  to  such  purpose  that  we  owe  to  him  the 
first  and  only  intelligent  view  of  California  had  up  to 
this  time. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  communication  with  the  neigh- 
bor provinces  was  mostly  carried  on  by  sea.  There 
was  a  little  trade  with  San  Bias,  and  so  with  Old 
Mexico,  but  it  was  long  before  the  way  was  opened 
to  New  Mexico  by  crossing  the  Colorado  desert.  One 
of  the  fathers,  in  1776,  set  out  from  San  Gabriel  for 
the  Colorado  River,  passing  safely  over  the  route  now 
followed  by  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway.  After- 
wards, a  little  trade  sprung  up  between  the  prov- 
inces, but  the  way  was  long  and  the  road  beset  with 
dangers. 

The  first  American  vessel  to  enter  a  California  port 
was  the  ship  Otter  of  Boston,  in  1796.  She  was  an 
armed  trader,  carrying  a  pass  signed  by  Washington, 
of  whom  it  was  doubtful  if  the  Californians  had  even 
so  much  as  heard,  though  they  admitted  the  Otter  to 
trade  with  them. 

The  Spaniards  had  found  the  natives  singularly  free 
from  the  vices  of  civilization,  but  intermingling  of  the 
two  races  soon  led  to  mingling  of  blood,  and  subse- 
quent growth  of  an  intermediate  class  half  Spanish  and 
half  Indian,  so  combining  certain  traits  of  both  without 
the  native  vigor  of  either. 

1  CALIFORNIA  THE  NAME,  as  applied  in  the  Report  of  the  Wheeler  Exploring 

to  the  peninsula,  first  appears  in  Precia-  Expedition, 

dos'  diary  of  Ulloa's  voyage.  *  C  A  P  E    MENDOCINO.    Bancroft 

1  CALIFORNIA  AN  ISLAND  on  Eng-  ("  The  Pacific  States  ")  thinks  the  name 

lish  maps  so  late  as  1709  (H.  Moll,  "Pres-  was  given  in  honor  of  the  viceroy  Men- 

ent  State  of  the  World  ").  doza. 

8  CABRILLO'S  VOYAGE  is  reprinted  6  NORTH-EAST    PASSAGE    here,    01 


SWORD   AND   GOWN   IN   CALIFORNIA. 


North-west  Passage  from  the  Atlantic 
side,  was  a  thing  firmly  believed  in  by 
the  sailors  of  all  nations. 

6  DRAKE'S  HARBOR  is  not  satisfac- 
torily identified.  Authorities  differ. 
Some,  like  Admiral  Burney,  believe  the 
present  port  of  San  Francisco  to  have 
been  Drake's  anchorage;  others,  like 
Bancroft,  maintain  this  to  be  wholly  im- 
probable, and  think  Old  Port  San  Fran- 
cisco, under  Point  Reyes,  was  the  place. 
See  Fletcher's  account,  "The  World 
Encompassed,"  or  Bancroft's  Mouu- 
mental  History. 

*  DRAKE'S  VOYAGE  ROUND  THE 
WORLD.  A  chair  made  from  his  ship  was 
presented  to  the  University  of  Oxford. 

8  THE  INVINCIBLE  ARMADA  of 
Philip  II.,  1588. 

a  MONTEREY,  literally  King's  Moun- 
tain. 


10  PUNTA  DE  LOS  REYES,  or  King 
Point. 

11  BEGAN  FROM  La  Paz. 

12  MISSIONS    were    founded    with 
funds  given  by  benevolent  persons,  at 
the  solicitation  of  the  monks.    A  royal 
grant   was    sometimes    the  foundation. 
They  were  invariably  named  in  honor  of 
a  saint.    The  buildings  usually  formed  a 
square,  enclosed  by  a  high  wall,  one  end 
being  occupied  by  the  church,  while  the 
apartments    of    the    friars,    granaries, 
storehouses,  etc.,  occupied  the  remaining 
sides. 

18  LA  PEYROUSE,  an  officer  of  the 
French  navy  who  had  gallantly  fought 
in  our  war  for  independence.  He  lost 
his  life  among  the  islands  of  the  New 
Hebrides,  on  one  of  which  his  ship  was 
thrown,  not  a  soul  surviving  to  tell  the 
tale. 


II. 

THE    FRENCH. 


PRELUDE. 

A  FTER  the  discovery  of  America  by  Columbus,  the 
A  French  were  among  the  first  to  turn  their  attention 
tn  this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  not  so  much  to  make  con- 
quests in  the  spirit  of  universal  dominion,  as  the  Span- 
iards were  doing,  as  to  seek  new  outlets  or  new  sources 
of  supply  for  their  commerce  and  fisheries. 

Spain,  as  we  have  seen,  forced  other  nations  to  follow 
her  lead  at  a  respectful  distance.  With  one  foot  planted 
in  Europe  and  the  other  in  America,  she  bestrode  the 
Atlantic  as  the  colossus  of  the  age. 

But  the  newly  awakened  spirit  of  discovery  would 
not  down  at  the  bidding  of  prince  or  pontiff,  let  him  be 
never  so  great  or  so  powerful.  Once  aroused  it  was 
sure  to  find  ways  by  which  some  part  of  the  benefits  to 
accrue  to  mankind  from  this  grand  discovery  should 
not  be  monopolized  by  a  single  nation.  We  might  even 
say  that  all  the  nations  of  Europe  instinctively  felt  this 
to  be  their  opportunity, — the  opportunity  of  the  human 
race. 

France  had  the  ships,  and  France  had  the  sailors. 
Sir  Walter  Raleigh  tells  us  —  and  surely  he  is  an 
unbiassed  witness  —  that  in  Caesar's  time  the  French 


68 


PRELUDE. 


Bretons  were  the  best  sailors  in  the  world.  Were  we 
disposed  to  call  in  question  their  right  to  this  title  at  a 
later  day,  —  the  time  of  Columbus,  Cabot,  Cortereal,  and 
Magellan,  —  what  can  be  said  of  their  boldly  setting 
sail  across  an  unknown  ocean,  like  the  Atlantic,  in 
vessels  not  larger  than  a  modern  oyster-boat  ? 

Yet  the  names  they  left  behind  them  in  their  adven- 
turous voyages 
make  it  certain 
that  these  Basque 
and  Breton  fisher- 
men pushed  their 
way  into  the  Gulf 
of  St.  Lawrence 
soon  after  Cabot 
carried  home  to 
England  the  news 
that  he  had  been 
in  seas  alive  with 
codfish. 

The  knowledge 
thus  gained  point- 
ed with  unerring 
finger  to  the  St. 
Lawrence  as  the 

open  door  through  which  French  discoverers  should 
pass  into  the  spacious  interior  of  our  broad  continent, 
though  never,  in  their  wildest  flights  of  fancy,  could 
they  have  conceived  what  lay  beyond  this  door.  So 
accident  rather  than  choice  led  them  on  through  the 
colder  region  of  the  north.  And  while  the  Spaniards 
had  missed  the  Mississippi,  a  more  fortunate  chance 
led  Frenchmen  to  find  it  by  a  very  different,  though 


SHIPS  OF  THE   SIXTEENTH  CENTURY. 


PRELUDE.  6? 

no  less  certain,  route.  To  them  be  the  honor  of  the 
achievement ! 

Just  as  the  march  of  Spanish  civilization  is  traced  in 
the  names  given  by  explorers  of  that  nation,  so,  in 
like  manner,  those  conferred  by  Frenchmen  shall  direct 
us  in  the  lines  by  which  they  journeyed  onward  toward 
the  setting  sun. 

Although  Jaques  Cartier l  ascended  the  St.  Lawrence 
so  early  as  1534-35,  it  was  not  till  Champlain  founds  I 
Quebec  (1608),  that  the  work  of  settling  a  French 
colony  in  Canada  began  in  earnest.  But  even  here, 
at  Quebec,  three  hundred  miles  from  the  ocean,  the 
great  river  poured  its  undiminished  floods  out  of  the 
wilderness  beyond,  and  it  bore  its  greatness  on  its 
face. 

Astonished  to  find  themselves  only  on  the  threshold, 
as  it  were,  of  the  continent,  the  adventurous  pioneers 
caught  their  first  glimpses  of  its  undoubted  grandeur. 
That  they  were  dazzled  by  it,  is  something  we  may 
easily  conceive. 

Whence  came  this  silent  river,  this  daily  riddle  for 
men  to  guess,  and  whither  would  it  lead  them  ?  In  what 
far  country  would  its  tiny  tributary  rills  be  found  ?  Did 
they  lie  hid  among  the  feet  of  far-off  mountains,  over- 
peering  all  the  land  like  hoary  giants,  or  gush  forth 
from  the  bosom  of  some  vast  plain  ?  Was  it  indeed  the 
road  to  India  ?  2 

To  such  questions  as  these  the  future  must  make 
answer.  All  believed  it  would  lead  to  India.  But 
Champlain  and  those  who,  like  him,  looked  at  things 
broadly  and  deeply,  were  convinced  that  whoever 
should  hold  that  river  throughout  its  course  would  be 
masters  of  the  continent  it  undoubtedly  drained.  And 


70 


PRELUDE. 


as  Frenchmen  ever  loyal  to  their  king  and  country,  whose 
glory  they  would  see  increased,  they  purposed  making 
here,  in  the  wilderness,  a  NEW  FRANCE  which  some 
day,  perhaps,  should  rival,  if  not  eclipse,  the  old. 

To  this  work  the   French  brought  one  qualification 
peculiarly  their  own.     It  was  this.     Of  the  three  nations 

who  have  contended 
for  control  in  our 
country,  none  have 
so  readily  adapted 
themselves  to  the 
original  people  as  the 
French  have.  None 
have  so  thoroughly 
respected  their  feel- 
ings and  prejudices. 
And  none  have  so 
easily  won  their  con- 
fidence, or  so  fully 
-  commanded  their 
services. 

Moreover,  the 
French  being  rather 
traders  than  colo- 
nists in  the  true 
sense,  because  in 

Canada  the  fur  trade3  was  chiefly  looked  to,  and  colo- 
nization was  thought  unfavorable  to  it,  exploration 
became  the  profession,  we  might  say,  of  many  who 
trained  themselves  for  it  by  living  among  the  Indians, 
studying  their  language,  their  habits,  learning  how  to 
use  the  paddle,  making  long  canoe  voyages,  and  so 
inuring  their  bodies  to  the  toil  and  hardship  of  savage 


A  WOOD  BANGER. 


PRELUDE.  71 

life.  While  the  English  remained  in  their  villages,  the 
French  wandered  everywhere. 

If  we  add  to  this  that  the  French  are  a  nation  of 
explorers,  in  whom  discovery  speedily  develops  into 
a  passion,  we  shall  get  at  the  true  animating  spirit 
which  carried  them  so  far  into  the  interior,  whether  as 
simple  traders,  soldiers,  or  missionaries. 

The  world  could  ill  spare  one  of  its  pioneers.  They 
are  heralds  of  civilization  following  the  guiding  star  of 
its  destiny. 

1  JAQUES     CARTIER    amended    the  sidered  it*  truest  source  of  wealth  be- 

St.  Lawrence  aa  high  as  Montreal  (Royal  cause  it    gave  immediate    returns,  and 

Mount),  which  he  named  for  the  moun-  was     thought     to     be     inexhaustible, 

tain  back  of  the  city.  Hence  it  became  the  engrossing  occupa- 

*  THE  ROAD  TO  INDIA  was  no  less  Uon  of  the  inhabitants.    It  was  granted 

the  goal  of  early  French  explorers  than  first  to  De  Monts,  then  to  others  who 

with  those  of  other  nations.  undertook  to  colonize  Canada  at  their 

>  TOE  FUR-TRADE  of  Canada,  rather  own  coat, 
than  agriculture  or  fisheries,  was  COD- 


WESTWARD   BY  THE   GREAT   INLAND  WATERWAYS, 

**  /  hear  the  tread  of  pioneers 
Of  nations  yet  to  be."  —  Whittier. 

FROM  Quebec  Champlain  pushed  on  up  the  river  to 
the  island  of  Montreal,  where  he  established  a  trading- 
post.  Hither  came  the  Hurons  of  the  lake  to  barter 
their  furs  for  French  goods.  They  came  by  way  of 
Lake  Nipissing  and  the  Ottawa.  These  Indians  told 
the  French  all  about  their  country,  and  the  way  to  it. 
One  of  them  showed  Champlain  an  ingot  of  copper, 
and  described  the  way  his  people  refined  it  from  the 
native  ore.  Interpreters  began  to  study  the  Indian 
dialects,  and  eager  traders  to  push  out  farther  and 
farther  into  the  wilderness  for  the  sake  of  larger  gains. 


72        WESTWARD   BY  THE    INLAND   WATERWAYS. 

But  the  route  to  the  west  was  not  without  perils 
which  the  French  found  it  hard  to  overcome.  Two 
great  rival  families  of  savages  were  divided  from  each 
other  by  the  St.  Lawrence  and  the  Lakes.  Those  living 
north  of  the  river  may  be  included  in  the  general  name 
of  Hurons ; l  those  on  the  south  were  called  Iroquois.2 
The  two  waged  perpetual  war  with  each  other,  drawing 

to  them  kindred 
or  tributary  tribes. 
In  an  evil  hour 
Cham  plain  had 
taken  part  with  the 
Hurons,  so  identi- 
fying the  French, 
in  the  minds  of 
the  Iroquois,  with 
their  worst  ene- 
mies. 

If  to  natural  ob- 
stacles be  added 
the  enmity  of  a 
most  valiant  peo- 
ple, whose  country 
stretched  along  the  whole  southern  shore  of  Lake  On- 
tario, who  controlled  the  portage  round  the  Falls  of 
Niagara,  and  were  undisputed  masters  of  the  lake  itself, 
we  shall  go  forward  with  some  idea  of  the  impedi- 
ments to  peaceful  exploration  and  of  the  consummate 
folly  which  had  put  this  -  stumbling-block  in  the  way 
of  it. 

We  know  that  before  1612  Champlain  had  informed 
himself  quite  thoroughly  about  Lake  Ontario,  because 
we  find  the  lake  outlined  on  his  map  of  that  year.  For 


CHAMPLAIN. 


WESTWARD    BY    THK    INLAND   WATERWAYS. 


73 


a  like  reason  we  judge  him  to  have  known  of  the  Niagara 
River  and  Falls.3     But  that  way  the  Iroquois  lay. 
This  state  of  things  forced  exploration  into  a  quite 


different 

channel. 

The  French  now  had 
to  take  the  rounda- 
bout and  difficult  way 
through  the  country 
of  the  friendly  Hu- 
rons,  their  allies,  or 
in  other  words  to 
reach  Lake  Huron 
by  making  a  canoe 
voyage  up  the  Otta- 
wa, across  Lake  Nip- 
issing,  and  thence 
down  French  River 

to  the  lake,  instead  of  going  through  the  open  waters  of 
Lakes  Ontario  and  Erie. 

In  1615  Champlain  brought  some  Franciscan  mission- 
aries to  Quebec,  one  of  whom  made  his  way  up  the 
Ottawa  to  Lake  Huron  a  little  before  him.  In  1626 


74        WESTWARD   BY   THE    INLAND    WATERWAYS. 

came  the  Jesuit  Fathers,4  who  brought  the  zeal  of  their 
order  to  the  cause  of  evangelizing  the  Indians.  Then 
Richelieu,5  who  held  the  reins  of  the  monarchy  in  his 
hands,  founded  his  famous  Company  of  New  France, 
to  whom  the  King  not  only  granted  full  powers  of 
government,  but  also  a  monopoly  of  the  fur  trade,  so 
turning  Canada  over  to  private  hands. 

An  unprosperous  beginning,  however,  awaited  the 
new  order  of  things.  Civil  war  had  broken  out  in 
France.  Richelieu  was  beleaguering  the  heretics  of 
La  Rochelle  when  England  mingled  in  the  fray.  In 
1629  the  English  took  Quebec  from  the  French,  and  did 
not  restore  6  it  again  till  1632. 

At  this  time  the  conquerors  had  carried  Champlain 
to  England,  a  prisoner  of  war.  He  returned  to  Quebec 
in  1633,  again  in  chief  command,  though  soon  (1635) 
to  die  at  his  post,  greatest  among  all  the  explorers  of 
his  time. 

With  Champlain's  death,7  a  new  force  came  into  the 
cause  of  discovery  and  conversion,  for  since  the  coming 
of  the  Jesuits  the  two  were  henceforth  to  go  hand  in 
hand. 

At  the  pleasure  of  the  general  of  the  order,  its  mis- 
sionaries might  be  sent  with  scrip,  staff,  and  wallet  to 
the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  Like  John  the  Bap- 
tist in  the  wilderness,  we  find  them  living  on  such 
scant  fare  as  nature  supplied.  Their  beds  were  the 
bare  ground.  Under  a  canopy  of  green  boughs  they 
reared  the  altar  of  their  humble  missions  for  the  wor- 
ship of  the  ever-living  God.  Thus  in  exile  and  in  want, 
they  began  their  ministrations  among  the  rude  peoples 
of  the  wilderness  because  God  and  the  Blessed  Virgin 
had  given  them  this  pious  work  to  do.  Their  food  was 


WESTWARD    BY   THE    INLAND    WATERWAYS.         75 

often  more  nourishing  to  the  imagination  than  the 
body,  yet  when  compared  with  what  they  might  expect 
at  the  hands  of  the  Iroquois,  hunger  counted  for  little, 
since  these  barbarians  of  the  New  World  burnt  a  mis- 
sionary alive  with  the  same  zest  that  Christians  of  the 
Old  did  a  heretic. 

Men  willing  to  undertake  such  duties,  undergo  such 
hardships,  live  such  lives,  are  sure  to  leave  their  impress 
on  any  country.  We  shall  find  they  did  so  on  ours. 

On  their  part  the  savages  truly  wished  for  knowledge 
of  the  white  man's  God,  who  they  were  told,  and  be- 
lieved, was  able  to  raise  them  up  out  of  their  lowly 
condition  and  make  them  rich  and  powerful  like  the 
whites.  So  much,  at  least,  of  the  Jesuits'  teachings 
they  could  comprehend. 

No  long  time  elapsed  before  these  Jesuits  made  their 
way  to  the  Hurons  of  the  lake,  and  here  (1634)  they 
established  their  first  missions. 

Some  say  that  in  this  same  year  a  French  trader, 
named  Jean  Nicolet,8  made  his  way  as  far  west  as  the 
Green  Bay  of  Lake  Michigan.  There  is  hopeless  con- 
fusion about  the  date,  but  none  as  to  the  fact  of  his 
being  the  first  white  man  to  set  foot  in  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Wisconsin. 

When  Nicolet  got  back  to  Quebec,  he  told  the  mis- 
sionaries there  that  he  had  been  on  a  river  which  would 
have  taken  him  to  the  sea,  had  he  kept  on  as  he  was 
going  but  three  days  longer.  Hearing  this  story,  the 
fathers  believed  themselves  on  the  eve  of  no  less  a 
discovery  than  the  long-sought  outlet  to  India. 

Although  the  Spaniards  said  little  about  the  discov- 
eries they  were  making  on  that  side,  they  could  not 
prevent  some  knowledge  of  what  they  were  doing  in 


76         WESTWARD   BY  THE    INLAND   WATERWAYS. 


New  Mexico  and  on  the  Pacific  from  leaking  out 
through  the  Jesuits  who  were  themselves  concerned  in 
all  these  discoveries,  and  so  were  better  informed  than 
others  in  regard  to  their  progress. 

But  from  the  year  1640,  when  the  missionaries  so 
certainly  thought  the  key  to  the  South  Sea  was  in 
their  hands,  on  to  1650,  or  one  whole  decade,  the 
Iroquois  gave  the  French  and  their  allies  other  work  to 
do  at  home.  Hardly  could  the  French  consider  them- 
selves safe  in  their  fort  at  Montreal,  much  less  venture 

abroad  upon  new  schemes 
of  discovery.  In  vain  the 
missionaries  cried  out  upon 
the  Iroquois  as  the  great 
scourge  of  Christianity.  In 
vain  the  elements  were 
invoked  to  destroy  them. 
The  heathen  were  at  the 
doors  of  their  monasteries, 
the  Dutch9  were  behind 
the  Iroquois,  urging  them  on,  and  the  future  of  New 
France  looked  gloomy  indeed. 

Finally  (1650)  the  Iroquois  carried  the  war  into  the 
heart  of  the  Huron  country  itself.  The  Hurons  fought 
well,  but  were  soon  overpowered  and  driven  from  their 
villages  into  perpetual  exile.  Some  fled  to  the  east, 
some  to  the  west,  thereby  becoming  so  thoroughly  dis- 
persed as  never  more  to  be  a  united  nation. 

With  brief  periods  of  cessation  from  active  warfare, 
which  were  rather  truces  than  peace,  war  raged  until 
1661,  and  as  the  Iroquois  now  commanded  all  the 
routes  to  the  west,  the  French  were  effectually  shut 
out  from  the  Great  Lakes  for  the  time  being. 


TOTEM   OF  THE   FOXES. 


WESTWARD   BY   THE   INLAND    WATERWAYS.         77 

A  brighter  day  dawned  at  last.  In  1660  some  Lake 
Superior  Indians  arrived  at  Quebec  in  their  canoes. 
When  they  were  ready  to  go  back,  they  offered  to  take 
a  missionary  home  to  live  with  them.  It  was  a  terrible 
journey,  but  the  offer  could  not  be  neglected.  Accord- 
ingly one  was  sent  back  in  their  company,  but  died  in 
no  long  time  after  reaching  their  country,  of  misery 
and  want.  The  Indians  then  asked  for  another  mis- 


FKENCU   COSTUMES. 


sionary.  The  next  to  go  was  Father  Allouez,10  who  set 
out  in  the  summer  of  1665  in  company  with  some 
returning  savages.  Nothing  was  heard  of  him  for  nearly 
two  years.  He  had  about  been  given  up  for  lost  when 
he  appeared  at  Quebec  bringing  strange  tidings  indeed. 
On  the  southern  shore  of  Lake  Superior,  in  the  forest, 
among  savage  hordes,  he  had  set  up  a  mission.  He  had 
been  much  among  the  neighbor  tribes,  and  had  seen 
and  talked  with  the  dreaded  Sioux,  who  proudly  told 
him  their  country  reached  to  the  end  of  the  world. 


'8         WESTWAilD   BY  THE   INLAND    WATERWAYS. 


They  also  told  him  of  a  great  river,  which  he  supposed 
must  "  fall  into  the  sea  by  Virginia."  The  father  wrote 
down  the  name  as  the  Sioux  pronounced  it, — Messipi.11 
Following  in  the  footsteps  of  Allouez  (1668),  Fathers 
Dablon  B  and  Marquette  13  were  sent  to  the  mission  at 


FOX  KIVEB. 


the  foot  of  Lake  Superior. 
Afterward  Dablon  found- 
ed that  at  Sault  St.  Marie. 
With  Dablon,  Allouez 
(1670)  made  a  journey 
from  Green  Bay  up  Fox  River  to  Winnebago  Lake, 
which  they  crossed.  Going  still  farther  on,  they  reached 
the  head  waters  of  the  Wisconsin,  which  was  then 
found  to  be  a  tributary  of  the  Mississippi. 

Thus,  in  the  course  of  a  few  years,  the  Jesuits  had 
planted  missions  at  La  Pointe,  on  Lake  Superior,  at 
Sault  St.  Marie,  its  outlet,  at  the  Straits  of  Michili- 


WESTWARD   BY   THE   INLAND    WATERWAYS. 


79 


mackinac,  and  Green  Bay.  All  were  first  fishing- 
places,  next  missions,  and  then  outposts  of  civilization 
in  the  western  world. 

In  the  spring  of  1671,  with  much  ceremony,  the 
French  took  formal  possession  of  Sault  St.  Marie,  the 
lakes  Huron  and  Superior,  and  all  the  country  as  far 
as  the  western  sea.  In  token  of  sovereignty  a  cross  of 
wood  was  reared  with  the  arms  of  France  fixed  upon 
it.  Amid  volleys  of  musketry,  and  shouts  of  "  God 
save  the  king!"  France  thus  proclaimed  herself  mis- 
tress of  the  Great  West. 


1  HURONS,  or  Wyandota,  occupied 
the  east  shore  of  Lake  Huron  and  con- 
tiguous country  between  this  and  Lake 
Simcoe.  "Their  women  were  their 
mules." —  Champ  la  in.  The  Wyandota 
now  live  in  Kansas,  and  are  civilized. 

*  IROO.UOIS,  called  so  by  the  French; 
by  the  English,  Five  Nations,  and  sub- 
eequeutly  Six  Nations.  The  confeder- 
ated Mohawks,  Oneidas,  Cayugas,  Onon- 
dagas.  Sent  IMS,  to  whom  the  Tuscaroraa 
of  North  Carolina  being  joined,  made 
the  sixth.  They  attributed  their  origin 
to  five  different  haudfuls  of  soed,  sowed 
by  the  Creator. 

8  NIAGARA  RIVER  is  properly  laid 
down.  That  Champlaiu  knew  of  the 
FALLS,  is  evident  from  the  words  "  Satit 
d'eau"  meaning  waterfall,  which  he 
h;w  put  down  not  quite  where  they  be- 
long, but  not  far  out  of  the  way. 

«  THE  JESUITS,  or  Society  of  Jesus, 
founded  by  Ignatius  Loyola,  1534.  The 
brothers  were  vowed  to  chastity,  pov- 
erty and  obedience.  See  Encyclopaedia; 
also  article  Jesuit's  Bark,  or  Cinchona. 

6  RICHELIEU,  at  this  time  minister  of 
Louis  XIL1. 

0  DID  NOT  RESTORE  Quebec  till  the 
arrears  of  Queen  Henrietta's  dowry 
(queen  of  Charles  I.)  had  been  paid  in 
full. 

"  How  strange  are  the  freaks  of  dee 


tiny !  Mary  de  Medicis,  widow  of  Henry 
IV.,  exiled  and  abandoned,  had  a  daugh- 
ter, Henrietta,  widow  of  Charles  I., 
who  died  at  Cologne,  in  the  house  where, 
sixty-five  years  before,  Rubens,  her 
painter,  was  born."  —  V.  Hugo. 

7  CHAMPLAIN,  SAMUEL  DE,  the  father 
of  Canada,  and  first  among  French  ex- 
plorer* in  the  New  World,  ought  to  bf 
held  in  high  esteem  by  Americans.    Tin 
work  he  did  was  for  all  time.     A  man  ni 
sterling  qualities;  of  resources;  of  solid 
judgment;  never  effervescent,  sometimes 
headstrong,  yet  prompt  to  act  in  emer- 
gencies.   Though  not  noble,  he  had  a 
chivalric    nature  united  with    capacity 
for  affairs.    His  Voyages  is  a  storehouse 
of  information  concerning  Canada  and 
New  England. 

8  JEAN    NICOLET   has   become    th 
subject  of  much  discussion.    The  evi 
dence  fixing  his  visit  in  1634  is  wholly 
circumstantial,  therefore  unsatisfactory. 
But  it  is  by  no  means  improbable.    I 
was  first  inclined  to  doubt  the  whole 
story  as  told  by  Father  Vimont,  thinking 
he  might  have  been  imposed  upon,  but 
it  bears  the  stamp  of  genuineness.    The 
Father  wrote  in  1640,  hence  Nicolet  must 
have  gone  to  Green  Bay  earlier.    No 
one  disputes  his  claim  to  be  the  first 
white    who    visited    that    region.     Setf 
Jesuit  Relations  of  1640. 


80         WESTWARD   BY   THE   INLAND   WATERWAYS. 


9  THE  DUTCH  then  occupied  New  12  FATHER  CLAUDE  DABLON  arrived 
York,  with  a  fort  and  trading  post  at  in  Canada,  1655.    In  1668  he  went  with 
Albany.    They  were  competitors  of  the  Marquette  to  the  Mission  of  St.  Esprit 
French  for  the  fur  trade,  and  therefore  on  Lake  Superior.  Afterward  he  founded 
natural  allies  of  the  Iroquois,  to  whom  that    of    S.    St.    Marie.  —  Jesuit   Rela- 
they  sold  guns  to  be  used  against  the  tions. 

French.    After  New  York  became  an  «  FATHER  JAMES  MARQUETTB  came 

English  Colony  (1664)  the  English  pur-  to  Canada  1666.    His  going  west  was  in 

sued  the  same  policy  of  confining  the  the  nature  of  a  re-enforcement  to  those 

French   to    the   north   shore   of    Lake  earlier  missionaries  who  had  prepared 

Ontario.  the  way.    He  died  while  returning  from 

10  FATHER  CLAUDE  ALLOUEZ,  in  the  a  journey  to  the  Illinois  towns  in  1675, 
Jesuit  Relations.  or  after  that  made  with  Joliet  the  pre- 

11  MESSIPI,  first  mentioned  under  its  vious  year.    Marquette,  Mich.,  is  named 
present  name.    Mostly  pronounced  to-  for  him. 

day  as  here  spelled. 


THE  SITUATION   IN   A.D.  1672. 

SINCE  the  day  of  Champlain's  death  New  France  had 
been  wofully  misgoverned.  Men  who,  like  him,  would 
be  willing  to  give  their  best  efforts  and  best  years  to 
building  up  the  colony,  in  singleness  of  purpose,  were 
not  forthcoming.  Champlain  left  no  successor.  Speak- 
ing generally,  the  post  of  governor  was  calculated  at 
what  it  would  be  worth  to  the  holder.  Sometimes 
it  was  sold  outright,  sometimes  given  in  payment  of 
services,  or  again  to  some  needy  favorite  as  a  means 
to  repair  his  ruined  fortunes.  Hence  most  governors 
looked  upon  Canada  as  a  place  to  get  rich  in,  just  as 
the  better  sort  of  merchants  looked  to  making  fortunes, 
and  then  going  home  to  France  as  quickly  as  possible 
to  enjoy  them.  Where  everybody  thought  about  the 
country  only  as  a  place  of  temporary  sojourn  and  no- 
body as  a  home,  it  is  evident  there  could  be  no  feeling 
of  permanence. 

Meanwhile,  the  short-sighted  policy  of  continually 
drawing  upon  the  natural  resources  of  Canada,  without 


THE   SITUATION    IN   A.D.    1672.  81 

making  the  loss  good,  may  be  compared  with  stripping 
mountains  of  their  forests.  Under  this  policy  the 
colony  was  like  a  man  who  is  slowly  bleeding  to  death. 

But  it  was  now  the  age  of  Louis  XIV.,  who,  if  some- 
times a  hard  master,  possessed  the  rare  gift  of  bringing 
round  him  men  of  superior  abilities. 

Once  more  let  us  glance  at  the  two  leading  mon- 
archies of  Europe,  and  see  if  their  relative  attitude,  one 
to  the  other,  has  been  in  any  wise  altered  since  Pavia. 

Under  Charles  V.,  Spain  menaced  Europe  with  uni- 
versal dominion  :  under  Philip  II.  and  Philip  III.,  she 
had  lost  the  Low  Countries ,  under  Philip  IV.,  Portu- 
gal ;  under  Charles  II.,  Burgundy  and  Flanders.  His- 
tory offers  few  examples  of  such  rapid  decline. 

The  characters  of  these  sovereigns  may  be  summed 
up  as  follows :  Charles  V.  was  a  great  general  and  great 
king.  Philip  II.  was  a  king  only.  Philip  III.  and 
Philip  IV.  were  not  even  kings.  Charles  II.  could 
hardly  be  called  a  man.  This  dotard,  at  thirty-nine, 
passed  his  time  in  making  and  destroying  his  will. 
Choosing  rather  to  ally  his  house  with  France  than 
Germany,  Charles  made  a  French  prince  his  heir.  It 
was  to  this  prince  that  Louis  XIV.,  in  embracing  him, 
made  use  of  the  memorable  words,  "  There  are  no 
longer  any  Pyrenees/' 

It  was  then,  as  we  have  said,  the  age  of  Louis  XIV. 
and  of  French  supremacy  in  continental  affairs. 

In  our  continent  Spain  was  already  playing  a  sec- 
ondary part.  A  more  vigorous  hand  had  seized  the 
standard  of  discovery,  and  was  now  bearing  it  onward 
to  victory. 

It  had  gone  all  the  way  from  the  humble  Jesuit  mis- 
sion at  the  foot  of  Lake  Superior  to  France,  that  the 


82 


THE   SITUATION   IN   A.D.    1672. 


greatest  river  of  America  was  as  good  as  found,  —  the 
greatest,  because  all  admitted  that  only  its  head  streams 
could  have  been  touched,  while  it  was  seen  that  its 
course  must  of  necessity  lie  on  one  or  the  other  side 
of  the  mountains  of  New  Mexico,  — toward  the  Gulf  of 

Mexico  or  the  Ver- 
milion Sea.  But 
on  which  side  they 
could  not  tell. 

Of  course  there 
were  two  opinions. 
Some  favored  one, 
some  the  other,  but 
either  belief  an- 
nounced the  river 
of  the  continent. 
Whoever  should 
first  plant  them- 
selves at  its  mouth, 
would  inevitably 
control  its  whole 
course.  And  so 
the  idea  took  root 
in  the  minds  of  the 
statesmen  and  geographers  of  the  time,  who  set  about 
trying  to  map  out  the  destiny  of  the  future  empire. 

The  shrewdest  among  the  French  explorers  did  not 
believe  that  the  Mississippi  and  Colorado  could  be  the 
same,  or  that  the  great  river  flowed  into  the  South  Sea. 
Father  Allouez,  as  we  have  seen,  thought  otherwise. 
In  any  case  an  incentive  had  been  found  for  more  ear- 
nest effort,  with  more  definite  aims.  There  began  to 
be,  in  America,  a  really  national  question. 


LOUIS   XIV. 


THE   SITUATION   IN   A.D.    1672.  83 

So  it  was  that  step  by  step  that  great  mysterious 
river  which  had  so  long  flowed  through  men's  brains, 
grew  at  last  into  definiteness,  though  still  waiting  for 
the  veil  of  centuries  to  be  lifted. 

So  far  America  had  been  the  orange  to  be  squeezed 
by  whoever  should  possess  it.  Louis,  like  the  rest,  no 
doubt  looked  more  to  the  revenue  he  hoped  to  get 
from  New  France,  than  to  the  mere  glory  of  extending 
his  dominions  in  that  quarter,  though  he  was  also  ambi- 
tious of  doing  this.  Yet  for  either  purpose  he  must 
have  suitable  agents,  while  his  political  aims  in  Europe 
would  be  furthered  by  crippling  the  English  and 
Spanish  colonies  in  America.  The  English  were  to  be 
hemmed  in  on  the  seaboard,  while  the  Spaniards  would 
find  themselves  checked  from  advancing  beyond  the 
limits  they  already  occupied. 

When  the  royal  arms  of  France  were  raised  at  Sault 
St.  Marie,  New  England  was  pushing  out  toward  the 
east,  not  the  west.  No  English  could  be  found  west  of 
the  Hudson.  No  word  of  English  had  been  heard 
beyond  Lake  Ontario.  There  was  not  yet  a  Pennsyl- 
vania. Virginia  lay  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge ;  the  Caro- 
linas  were  but  recently  settled ;  Florida  was  hardly 
more  than  a  Spanish  military  post. 

In  all  times  large  views  demand  large  men  for  their 
execution.  In  looking  about  him  for  a  governor  who 
ought  to  be  more  of  a  soldier  than  politician,  less  a 
courtier  than  a  man  of  action,  though  something  of 
both,  the  king's  eye  fell  upon  Count  Frontenac,  whose 
rule  somewhat  resembled  that  of  his  august  master,  in 
the  attempted  concentration  of  all  power  in  himself. 

In  1672  Colbert,  the  prime  minister,  wrote  to  the 
intendant  of  Canada  that  his  majesty  wished  him  to 


84  THE   SITUATION   IN   A.D.    1672. 

give  his  attention  to  the  discovery  of  the  South  Sea. 
The  wish  being  the  same  as  a  command,  the  intendant 
sought  for  a  fitting  agent  to  carry  it  into  effect. 


COUNT  FRONTENAC. 

Louis  r-E  BUADE,  Compte  de  Frontenac,  showed 
little  loss  01  physical  or  mental  vigor  outwardly,  though 
at  seventy  incessant  wear  and  tear  had  begun  to  tell  on 
a  constitution  and  will  of  iron.  His  eye  had  not  lost 
its  fire,  nor  his  step  its  elasticity,  but  a  deep  crease 
between  the  brows  gave  a  look  of  care  to  his  face,  and 
bespoke  the  power  and  habit  of  concentrated  thought. 
His  complexion  was  florid,  his  moustache,  imperial,  and 
eyebrows,  white  as  snow.  Notwithstanding  a  certain 
cast  of  sensuality  there,  the  face,  if  not  noble,  had  that 
decided  distinction  about  it  which  impressed  the  be- 
holder with  the  idea  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  no 
ordinary  man.  Men  called  him  the  savior  of  Canada, 
for  he  had  been  sent  at  a  most  critical  moment  to 
retrieve,  if  possible,  the  blunders,  the  incapacity  of  his 
predecessor,  Denonville.  Crafty,  supple,  acute,  he  was 
the  very  man  to  comprehend  Indian  diplomacy,  to  pene- 
trate or  baffle  Indian  duplicity,  or  by  a  politic  act  to 
disarm  the  hostility  of  these  wily  adversaries.  At  the 
same  time,  he  not  only  knew  when  and  where  to  strike 
the  most  deadly  blows,  but  how  to  draw  from  success 
in  war  the  most  important,  the  most  fruitful  results. 
The  Iroquois,  who  waged  incessant  and  destructive 
warfare  against  Canada,  called  him  the  great  Onontio. 
He  had  not  disdained  to  join  an  Indian  war-dance,  in 
which  he  was  the  first  to  strike  the  war-post  with  his 


COUNT   FJIONTENAC.  85 

hatchet.  He  harangued  his  savage  allies  in  their  own 
sententious  and  highly  imaginative  rhetoric,  imitated 
their  own  methods  of  war,  and  even  their  atrocities  in 
roasting  prisoners  alive,  —  to  the  end,  perhaps,  that  the 
Indians  might  admire  in  him  the  qualities  which  they 
most  valued  in  themselves. 


JOLIET  AND  MARQUETTE. 
"  Peace  hath  her  victories  no  less  renowned  than  war." 

IN  Louis  Joliet,1  Talon,  the  intendant,2  found  the 
man  he  wanted.  Joliet  promised  to  see  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi  before  he  came  back  to  give  an  account 
of  himself,  and  being  already  a  veteran  explorer,  no  less 
was  expected  of  him  tha  i  that  he  would  keep  his  word. 

We  remember  that  exploration  and  conversion  were 
now  always  to  go  hand  in  hand.  One  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries at  the  Lakes  was  therefore  named  by  his  supe- 
rior to  go  along  with  Joliet.  This  was  Father  James 
Marquette.  Father  Marquette  was  then  in  charge  of 
the  mission  at  Michilimackinac,  where  Joliet  found  him 
impatiently  expecting  his  coming,  for  ever  since  Mar- 
qnette  had  heard  the  Indians  talk  about  the  great  river, 
the  wish  to  make  a  pilgrimage  to  it  had  lain  next  his 
heart.  He  prayed  the  Virgin  to  obtain  for  him  this  boon, 
and  his  prayer  had  been  granted  at  last.  Marquette 
had  also  heard  of  the  Missouri,  and  the  natives  who 
dwelt  in  prodigious  numbers  along  its  banks.  All  these 
things  he  was  anxious  to  see  with  his  own  eyes  in  order 
to  know  how  far  the  truth  would  agree  with  what  had 
been  told  him.  He  was  impatient  to  carry  tihe  gospe) 


86 


JOLIET   AND   MARQUETTE. 


among   all   these  lost  tribes,  to  whom  he  felt  himself 
called  by  special  appointment  of  Heaven. 

The  explorers  set  out  from  Mackinac  3  in  May,  1673, 
in  two  canoes.     They  were  seven  men  in  all.     Coasting 

Lake  Michigan  4  till  they 
came  to  Green  Bay, 
they  entered  Fox  River, 
crossed  Lake  Winnebago, 
and  on  the  7th  of  June 
reached  the  Mascoutin 
Village,  where  to  Mar- 
que tte's  great  joy  a  cross  5 
was  standing  unharmed 
among  the  wigwams  to 
signify  that  Christians 
had  already  been  there. 

They  had  now  reached 
the  farthest  limit  of  pre- 
vious exploration.  So  far 
as  known  no  traveller  had 
gone  beyond  this  spot. 

At  this  place  the 
explorers  took  Indian 
guides.  Setting  out  again 
on  the  10th,  they  forced 
the  canoes  slowly  along 
through  shallow  waters, 
choked  with  wild  rice,  which  grew  so  tall  about  them 
as  almost  to  meet  above  their  heads,  till  they  could 
go  no  farther.  Then  lifting  the  canoes  from  the  water, 
the  explorers  bore  them  on  their  shoulders  across 
the  prairie  to  the  Wisconsin,  upon  which  they  again 
launched  them. 


MARQUETTE'S  MAP. 


JOLIET   AND   MARQUETTE. 


87 


"  They  glided  calmly  down  the  tranquil  stream,  by 
islands  choked  with  trees  and  matted  with  entangling 
^rape-vines,  by  forests,  groves  and  prairies,  the  parks 
and  pleasure-grounds  of  a  prodigal  Nature  ;  by  thickets 
and  marshes  and  broad  bare  sandbars  ;  under  the  shad- 
owing trees,  between  whose  tops  looked  down  from 
afar  the  bold  brow  of  some  woody  bluff.  At  night  the 
bivouac  —  the  canoes 
inverted  on  the  bank, 
the  flickering  fire,  the 
meal  of  bison  flesh  or 
venison,  the  evening 
pipes,  and  slumber  be- 
neath the  stars ;  and 
when  in  the  morning 
they  embarked  again, 
the  mist  hung  on  the 
river  like  a  bridal  veil, 
then  melted  before  the 
sun,  till  the  glassy 
water  and  the  languid 
woods  basked  breath- 
less in  the  sultry 
glare." 

On  the  17th  of  June, 
Marquette   and  Joliet 

reached  the  site  of  Prairie  du  Chien.  Here  the  Wis- 
consin was  swallowed  up  in  the  broad  current  of  a 
mightier  stream  whose  dark  waters  swept  by  without 
pause,  like  something  conscious  of  its  power.  No  sooner 
had  they  looked  than  the  eager  explorers  knew  it  for 
the  object  of  their  hopes  and  prayers.  A  few  vigorous 
strokes  of  the  paddles,  and  they  were  floating  on  its 


WILD  BICE. 


88  JOLIET  AKD   MARQUETTE. 

majestic  tide  lost  in  wonder  and  praise,  for  the  half  ha*? 
not  been  told  them.  There  could  be  no  mistake.  The 
long-sought  Mississippi  had  been  found  again. 

With  cautious  strokes  and  watchful  eyes  the  canoea 
were  steered  southward.  Sometimes  sailing  in  the  dark 
shadows  of  overhanging  forests  where  danger  might 
lurk  unseen,  again  gliding  on  through  sunny  prairies, 
unfolding  vistas  of  quiet  beauty  to  the  view,  the  de- 
lighted explorers  kept  on  their  venturous  course.  It 
was  a  voyage  which  threw  around  them  the  charm 
of  an  exceeding  loveliness. 

Now  and  then  the  party  would  land  to  cook  a  hasty 
meal,  but  not  knowing  what  sort  of  people  they  might 
meet  with,  they  dared  not  sleep  on  shore.  So  at  night- 
fall the  canoes  were  anchored  off  in  the  stream.  For  a 
whole  week  they  floated  on  in  a  primeval  solitude.  No 
sign  of  the  hand  of  man  was  to  be  seen  about  them. 
No  human  voice  was  raised  in  welcome  or  in  warning. 
All  was  silent  as  at  the  creation.  Herds  of  bison,  graz- 
ing along  the  banks,  raised  their  shaggy  heads  to  gaze 
in  wonder  at  the  passing  travellers,  but  in  all  this  time 
nothing  in  human  form  appeared  to  molest  them. 

One  day  the  explorers  saw  footprints  upon  the  shore. 
Consulting  together,  they  resolved  to  follow  them. 
Leaving  the  canoes  in  charge  of  their  men,  Joliet  and 
Marquette  set  out.  The  path  led  to  a  village  whose 
inhabitants  sallied  forth  at  the  strange  white  men's 
halloo,  amazed  to  see  them  there.  The  chief  men 
offered  the  peace-pipe.  Marquette  asked  them  what 
people  they  were. 

"  We  are  the  Illinois,"  was  the  ready  reply.  Then 
the  two  Frenchmen  knew  they  were  among  friends6 
who  would  tell  them  what  they  wanted  to  know  about 


JOLTET   AND  MARQUETTE. 


89 


the  river  below  —  what  people  they  were  likely  to  fall 
in  with,  and  whether  friendly  or  not.  The  Illinois 
feasted  the  strangers,  and  spread  buffalo-robes  for  them 
to  sleep  on,  but  urged  them  not  to  think  of  descending 
the  river  farther  on  account  of  the  demon  which 
guarded  the  passage. 

Going  back  to  their  comrades,  with  the  whole  village 
for  an  escort,  the  explorers  pushed  off  again  on  their 
voyage.  First  they  passed  the  Illinois, 
with  its  remarkable  rocks.  Next  the 
Missouri,7  child  of  the  mountains, 
poured  its  turbid  flood  into  the  clear 
waters  of  the  Mississippi  with  such 
impetuous  force  as  to  cut  its  way 
through  to  the  opposite  bank,  so  giv- 
ing its  own  dull  hue  to  the  whole 
stream. 

Getting  clear  of  all  dangers,  the 
adventurous  voyagers  next  passed  the 
mouth  of  the  Ohio,  or  Beautiful  River. 
Day  after  day  they  floated  on  between 
forests  of  cypress,  only  once  meeting  ILLINOIS. 

with  Indians  by  the  way,  till  they  had 
descended  as  far  as  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  when 
suddenly  a  fleet  of  war  canoes  was  seen  putting  off  from 
the  shore  to  cut  them  off.  In  vain  Marquette  waved  the 
calumet,8  which  the  Illinois  had  given  him  to  be  his  safe- 
guard, and  which  among  savages  is  the  symbol  of  peace. 
The  young  warriors  fitted  their  arrows  and  bent  their 
bows.  In  another  moment  the  explorers  would  have 
been  riddled  with  arrows,  but  for  the  timely  arrival  of 
the  elders  who  called  out  to  the  young  men  to  stay 
their  hands.  With  these  the  French  now  held  a  parley. 


90  JOLIET   AND   MARQUETTE. 

and  having  made  known  their  pacific  intentions,  were 
suffered  to  land  and  were  kindly  treated. 

With  the  help  of  one  among  them  who  understood 
a  little  of  the  Illinois  tongue,  Marquette  was  able  to 
make  his  purpose  to  reach  the  sea  understood.  He 
now  learned  that  this  was  not  the  principal  town  of  the 
Arkansas  nation.  That  was  eight  or  ten  leagues  far- 
ther down  the  river.  So  the  next  day  the  Frenchmen 
went  on  to  the  greater  town,9  where  they  hoped  to  learn 
all  they  wished  to  know. 

Strangely  enough,  the  explorers  had  now  reached  the 
very  point  made  memorable  by  the  coming  of  De  Soto 


WAR  CANOE,   FROM  LA  HONTAN. 

a  century  and  a  half  earlier.  And  as  if  his  fate  had 
cast  a  spell  over  the  spot  where  they  stood  following 
the  course  of  the  great  river  with  their  eyes  till  it  was 
lost  in  the  distance,  neither  Joliet  nor  Marquette  was 
destined  to  pass  beyond  it. 

Here  the  Indians  gave  the  explorers  a  feast,  while 
holding  a  council  upon  the  question  whether  they  could 
or  could  not  proceed  with  safety.  In  return  the  whites 
distributed  gifts  among  the  Indians.  These  Indians 
had  little  food  except  corn,  of  which  they  raised  three 
crops  each  year.  In  addition  to  this,  they  gave  their 
visitors  dog's  flesh  to  eat,  as  a  mark  of  honorable  treat- 


JOL1ET   AND   MAKQUETTK.  91 

ment.  Although  they  had  knives  and  hatchets  of 
European  make,  and  could  mould  rude  earthenware 
pots  and  jars  to  cook  their  food  in,  these  people  were 
of  lower  condition  than  those  who  lived  higher  up  the 
river,  although  from  symmetry  of  form  they  were 
known  as  the  "handsome  men.'*  The  men  went  en- 
tirely nude  ;  the  women  wore  skins  about  their  loins. 

They  told  Marquette  that  the  people  lower  down 
would  never  let  him  pass  through  their  country ;  that 
they  were  a 
people  who  had 
fire  -  arms  and 
knew  how  to 
use  them.  This 
made  them  so 

formidable  to  their  neighbors,  that  these  Arkansas  dared 
not  hunt  the  buffalo  in  that  country,  though  the  plains 
there  were  alive  with  them. 

Such  ill  reports  touching  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of 
further  progress  decided  the  explorers  to  turn  back, 
although  the  Indians  said  the  sea  was  only  ten  journeys 
distant.  They  were  too  few  to  fight.  Their  capture 
would  most  surely  frustrate  the  whole  purpose  of  the 
expedition.  All  felt  that  this  chance  should  not  be 
risked.  They  had  at  least  gone  far  enough  to  settle  the 
vexed  question  about  the  outlet  to  the  sea.  All  indica- 
tions pointed  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

It  is  evident  that  the  explorers  took  counsel  of  their 
own  wishes,  perhaps  of  their  own  fears,  in  making  their 
decision  to  go  back.  Be  that  as  it  may,  Joliet  had  not 
kept  his  promise  to  Talon. 

On  the  17th  of  July  the  explorers  began  their  long 
journey  homeward.  They  were  weeks  making  their 


92 


JOLIET   AND   MARQtTETTE. 


way  back  to  the  Illinois,  into  which  they  turned  their 
canoes,  knowing  it  would  shorten  the  journey.  As- 
cending this  river  to  the  Indian  town  of  Kaskaskia,  the 
party  procured  guides  who  conducted  them  to  Lake 
Michigan. 


1  Louis  JOLIET  had  studied  for  the 
priesthood,  which  he  renounced  to  be- 
come a  trader.    Talon  sent  him  to  Lake 
Superior  to  search  for  the  copper-mines 
of    which   the  French  heard  so  much. 
Though    unsuccessful    in    this,    Joliet 
collected  much  information  which  sub- 
sequently proved  of  service  to  his  em- 
ployers.    He  made  a  map  showing  his 
discoveries  at  the  time  of  his  trip  with 
Marquette,  who  also  made  the  one  in- 
serted in  the  text,  on  which  the  Missis- 
sippi is  called  River  of  the  Conception, 
though  Joliet,  on  his  map,  calls  it  Col- 
bert River,  after  the  celebrated  minister 
of  Louis  XIV. 

2  TALON,  the  intendant,  was  one  of 
the    most  sagacious  advocates    of    the 
French    movement  into  the  Far  West. 
He  wished  to  establish  a  French  port  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  to  check  the 
Spaniards. 

3  MACKINAC  is  the  shortening  of  the 
original    lengthy    word    which   is  pro- 
nounced as  if  spelled  Mackinaw. 

4  LAKE   MICHIGAN  was  first  called 
Lake  of  the  Illinois.    This  name  often 
appears  on   maps  of   the   last  century, 
though  the  present  one  superseded  it  in 
time.    It  is  not  needful  to  give  all  the 
different  titles  given  by  different  explor- 
ers.   Their  name  is  legion. 


«  A  CROSS.  Doubtless  one  erected 
by  Fathers  Dablon  and  Allouez ;  see 
preceding  chapter. 

6  AMONG  FRIENDS,  because  they  had 
articles  of  French  make,  showing  them 
to  have  intercourse  with  French  traders. 
The  village  referred  to  is  supposed  to 
have  been  at  the  mouth  of  the  Des 
Moinee. 

?  THE  MISSOURI  is  first  identified 
by  Marquette,  who  calls  it  Pekitanoiii 
on  his  map.  The  Indians  told  him  that 
by  following  it  he  might  go  to  the  sea, 
referring  probably  to  the  Platte  and 
Colorado  route  to  the  Gulf  of  California. 

8  THE     CALUMET,    or     peace-pipe. 
"Men  do  not   pay  to  the  crowns  and 
sceptres    of    kings    the   honor    Indians 
pay  to  the  calumet ;  it  seems  to  be  the 
god  of  peace  and  war,  the  arbiter  of  life 
and  death.    Carry  it  about  you  and  show 
it,  and  you  can  march  fearlessly.    There 
is  a  calumet  for  peace  and  one  for  war, 
distinguished  only  by  the  color  of  the 
feathers  with  which  they  are   adorned, 
red  being  the  sign  of   war.    They  use 
them  also  for  settling  disputes,  strength- 
ening alliances,  and  speaking  to  stran- 
gers." —  Marquette. 

9  THE  GREATER  TOWN,  according 
lo  Marquette's  map,   was  then  on  the 
tast  bank. 


THE   MAN   LA   SALLE.  93 

THE    MAN    LA   SALLE. 

"  Eagles  fly  above,  but  sheep  flock  together."  —  Spanish. 

THE  Mississippi  had  now  been  struck  at  two  points. 
Its  course  had  been  explored  for  six  hundred  miles, 
glimpses  of  its  greatness  had  been  caught,  its  mysteries 
partly  solved.  A  man  of  greater  mark  now  put  his 
hand  to  the  completion  of  what  Marquette  and  Joliet 
had  left  unfinished. 

Robert  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  l  was  no  simple  explorer, 
having  some  little  education,  like  Joliet,  or  pious  mis- 
sionary, whose  sole  object  was  to  make  proselytes,  like 
Marquette. 

La  Salle  was  a  man  of  far  different  mould.  In  him 
the  man  of  brains,  of  ideas,  of  resources,  of  unbending 
will,  were  all  joined  in  one.  He  was  a  serious  man,  — 
a  man  of  heroic  patience,  whose  highest  qualities  shone 
forth  brightest  in  moments  of  supreme  trial.  Disaster, 
calumny,  treachery,  disease,  assailed  by  turns,  but  could 
never  crush  his  indomitable  spirit.  Whether  he  stood 
alone  amid  the  wreck  of  his  projects,  or  was  confronted 
by  unforeseen  perils,  his  fortitude  never  forsook  him. 
Although  rather  stern  than  indulgent  toward  his  men, 
there  was  that  in  him  which  commanded  respect  and 
obedience  ;  more,  La  Salle  did  not  desire.  He  was  the 
master-spirit  of  his  own  enterprises  —  the  originator  and 
executor  of  them  —  not  the  simple  agent  of  other  men's 
schemes.  From  a  study  of  the  man,  in  the  light  of 
what  he  aimed  to  do  and  what  he  actually  achieved, 
we  should  say  that,  "Where  there's  a  will  there's  a 
way,"  was  the  inspiration  of  La  Salle's  efforts,  and 
unique  maxim  of  his  career. 


94 


THE   MAN   LA   SALLE. 


But  La  Salle  had  his  drawbacks  also.  Naturally 
thoughtful  and  reserved  he  lived  too  much  apart,  in 
himself,  to  be  a  good  companion  in  the  wandering 
republic  of  which  he  was  the  head,  though  his  followers 
learned  to  look  up  to  him  if  they  could  not  love  him. 
He  could  not  unbosom  himself  to  his  inferiors,  nor 
could  they  understand  that  mixture  of  pride  and  reserve 

which  wrapped  him 
about  like  a  garment. 
What  they  took  for 
austerity  of  manner 
was  the  absorption  of 
the  man  in  himself. 
Those  who  knew  him 
best  would  have  fol- 
lowed him  to  the  end 
of  the  world,  but  La 
Salle  was  so  consti- 
tuted that  few  could 
know  him.  Of  all  this 
La  Salle,  himself,  was 
unconscious.  His  re- 
sponsibilities were  too 
great,  his  cares  too 

many,  for  indulgence  in  trivial  things.  With  minds 
like  Louis  XIV.,  Colbert  or  Frontenac,  the  case  was 
different.  La  Salle  impressed  them  as  no  ordinary  man 
could.  So  when  the  possibility  of  getting  control  of 
our  continent  by  stretching  a  chain  of  French  posts 
from  Quebec  to  the  St.  Lawrence  unfolded  itself  to  his 
mind,  in  its  grandeur,  the  King  at  once  saw  in  La  Salle 
the  fittest  man  for  the  work.  And  La  Salle  knew  no 
such  word  as  fail. 


CAVELIER  DE   LA   SALLE. 


0  THE   MAN    LA   SALLE. 

La  Salle  was  one  of  those  who  in  the  beginning 
believed  the  Mississippi  flowed  into  the  Vermilion  Sea. 
If  we  may  put  faith  in  appearances,  his  original  idea 
was  not  so  much  to  descend  the  great  river  to  its  mouth, 
as  to  make  his  way  across  the  continent  to  the  great 
South  Sea,  and  so  to  reach  China  and  Japan.  And  the 
name  of  La  Chine,2  which  La  Salle  gave  his  own  resi- 
dence, at  Montreal,  really  seems  an  indication  of  what 
was  then  uppermost  in  his  mind. 

This  is  instructive  as  showing  how  slowly  geographi- 
cal knowledge  of  the  westward  half  of  the  continent 
unfolded  itself. 

As  we  have*  said,  Cavelier  de  la  Salle  was  a  man  of 
one  idea,  practical  in  some  things,  visionary  in  others, 
but  in  pursuit  of  a  purpose  as  steadfast  as  fate. 

In  1666,  at  twenty-three,  he  found  himself  in  Canada. 
He  took  up  his  residence  at  the  upper  end  of  the  island 
of  Montreal,  where  the  St.  Lawrence  is  broken  up  into 
rapids  which  to  this  day  bear  the  name  of  La  Salle's 
residence,  La  Chine. 

Here  La  Salle  quietly  spent  three  years,  hearing  the 
while  from  the  Indians  who  came  to  La  Chine,  all  sorts 
of  strange  stories  about  the  vast  region  toward  the 
setting  sun,  and  the  people  who  lived  in  it. 

We  have  seen  the  missions  already  firmly  established 
on  the  Great  Lakes.  Joliet  and  Marquette  had  reached 
the  Mississippi  by  one  route  and  returned  by  another 
and  different  one,  leading  them  through  the  heart  of 
the  great  Illinois  nation,  to  whom  Marquette  believed 
himself  specially  called.  His  labors  among  this  people 
had  left  an  impression  highly  favorable  to  those  who 
might  come  after  him. 

It  was  from  the  Iroquois,  who  came  to  visit  him  a'j 


THE  MAN   LA    SALLE.  97 

La  Chine,  that  La  Salle  first  heard  of  the  Ohio.  The 
passion  for  discovery  seems  to  have  found  swift  and 
intense  development  in  him.  He  was  young,  ambitious 
and  eager  for  adventure.  La  Salle  was  only  twenty-six 
when  he  resolved  to  go  in  search  of  the  Ohio. 

Immediately  he  sold  La  Chine  to  procure  an  outfit. 
In  the  summer  of  1669  he  set  out  for  the  Iroquois  coun- 
try where  we  lose  sight  of  him  altogether.  Yet,  while 
no  itinerary  of  his  journey  remains  extant,  his  claim  to 
have  discovered  the  Ohio  is  conceded  by  his  rival, 
Joliet. 

Meanwhile,  Frontenac,  that  man  of  action,  was  not 
idle.  He  was  bent  on  opening  the  direct  road  to  the 
western  lakes,  peaceably  if  he  could,  forcibly  if  he 
must,  but  at  any  rate  to  open  it.  To  this  end  he  now 
showed  the  Iroquois  that  he  was  not  afraid  of  them  by 
building  a  fort  at  Kingston,3  which  was  called,  in  his 
honor,  Fort  Frontenac.  This  post  gave  the  command 
of  Lake  Ontario  to  the  French.  It  was  at  once  a  check 
and  a  menace  to  the  Iroquois,  who  saw  the  mastery  of 
the  lakes  slipping  away  from  them  but  could  not  pre- 
vent it.  Through  his  favor  with  Frontenac,  La  Salle 
secured  from  the  king  a  grant  of  Fort  Frontenac,  which, 
in  his  hands,  became  not  only  an  important  trading- 
post,  but  the. base  of  future  contemplated  discoveries. 
Here  La  Salle  brooded  over  the  projects  which  were  to 
make  him  famous  not  for  a  day,  but  for  all  time. 

For  ten  years  more  La  Salle  is  found  repairing  his 
fortunes,  maturing  his  plans,  acquiring  information,  or 
studying  Indian  dialects.  The  Gulf  of  Mexico  was  to 
be  reached,  and  a  French  port  and  colony  established 
there  into  which  all  the  trade  of  the  river  should  flow. 
Thus  the  Mississippi,  in  French  hands,  was  to  be  a 


98  THE  MAN  LA    SALLE. 

wedge  dividing  the  Spaniards  in  Florida  from  the 
iards  in  New  Mexico.  Possessed  of  the  two  great 
waterways  of  the  continent  —  the  St.  Lawrence  and 
Mississippi  —  France  was  to  take  the  first  place  in 
America,  ^hen  all  was  ready  La  Salle  laid  his  plans 
before  the  King. 

In  his  memorial  La  Salle  forcibly  contrasts  the  barren 
soil,  dense  forests  and  harsh  climate  of  Canada,  with 
the  fertile  soil,  sunny  prairies  and  genial  climate  of  the 
West.  He  describes  it  as  being  a  country  possessed  of 
every  thing  requisite  for  planting  flourishing  colonies ; 
and  as  one  thoroughly  familiar  with  it.  Its  native 
products,  its  abundance  of  fish  and  game,  its  pleasant 
streams,  are  all  dwelt  upon  without  the  exaggeration 
with  which  explorers  usually  embellish  their  reports. 
In  La  Salle's  view  the  facts  were  all-sufficient  for  his 
purpose. 

In  thus  seeking  the  enlargement  of  French  empire  at 
the  expense  of  Spain,  La  Salle  had  found  a  congenial 
field  for  his  talents  —  a  purpose  which  lifts  him  above 
the  rank  of  a  mere  explorer  or  trader.  It  is  true  he 
expected  to  find  riches  and  honor  for  himself,  yet  these 
were  things  which,  of  necessity,  hinged  upon  the  suc- 
cess of  the  scheme  as  a  whole,  not  of  a  part. 

Impressed  by  La  Salle's  representations,  Louis  granted 
him  a  patent  for  those  regions  he  proposed  to  discover, 
with  power  to  build  forts  and  govern  therein  for  the 
term  of  five  years.  La  Salle  was  to  do  all  this  at  his 
own  cost,  looking  to  his  monopoly  of  trade  to  reimburse 
himself.  So  he  set  about  borrowing  money  right  and 
left.  Never  generous,  the  King  limited  himself  to  giving 
La  Salle  the  opportunity  he  asked  for. 

While  in  Paris,  on  the  business  of  the  patent,  La 


THE  MAN  LA   SALLE.  99 

Salle  became  acquainted  with  an  Italian  officer,  named 
Tonty,  who  afterward  served  him  with  rare  fidelity  in 
his  various  expeditions.  Upon  La  Salle's  return  to 
Quebec,  Father  Louis  Hennepin,  a  Franciscan  friar, 
sought  and  obtained  leave  to  join  him.  And  thus  mat- 
ters stood  in  September,  1678. 

i  DE  LA  SALLE  :  literally  "  Of  the  lage  and  rapids  at  the  head  of  the  Island 

Hall."    Born   at  Rouen,  France,  1643:  of  Montreal. 

Cavelier  is  the  family  name.  3  KINGSTON,  on  the  north  shore  of 

»  LA  CHINE  (China).    Name  of  vil-  Lake  Ontario,  near  its  outlet. 


LA  SALLE,   PRINCE   OF  EXPLORERS. 

LA  SALLE'S  plans  included  the  following  details.  A 
vessel  had  been  built  at  Frontenac  for  the  navigation 
of  Lake  Ontario,  so  doing  away  with  the  tedious  canoe 
voyages  of  the  past.  This  brought  the  western  mis- 
sions one  step  nearer  Montreal.  Next,  the  Niagara 
River  was  to  be  seized  upon  and  held,  as  Frontenac  had 
been,  by  building  a  fort  at  its  mouth.  The  next  step 
would  be  the  construction  of  a  vessel,  above  the  falls, 
to  navigate  the  western  lakes.  With  this  done  the  real 
point  of  departure  for  the  Mississippi  would  be  removed 
to  Lake  Michigan,  and  the  delay,  and  fatigue  of  previous 
expeditions  saved  to  the  present  one.  Such  were  the 
essential  features  of  La  Salle's  plan. 

Accordingly  La  Salle  set  about  building  the  fort  at 
Niagara1  and  the  vessel  above  the  falls,  during  the 
winter  of  1679.  In  a  word,  he  was  perfecting  his  com- 
munications as  he  went  along. 

In  August  La  Salle  embarked  on  board  his  new 
vessel  and  hoisted  sail.  It  was  the  first  which  had  ever 


100       LA  SALLE,  PRINCE  OF  EXPLORERS. 

ploughed  the  waters  of  Lake  Erie.  In  due  season  he 
reached  Michilimackinac,  whence,  after  some  stay,  he 
again  sailed  for  Green  Bay.  Here  La  Salle  landed  his 
people  and  goods.  The  Griffin  was  sent  back  to 
Niagara,  for  the  supplies  La  Salle  wanted,  with  order 
to  return  without  delay  to  the  rendezvous.  With  four- 
teen men  La  Salle  then  started  in  canoes  on  his  journey 
to  the  Mississippi. 

Various  adventures  signalled  the  progress  of  the  ex- 
plorers along  the  shores  of  Lake  Michigan,  as  far  as  the 
mouth  of  the  St.  Joseph,  which  had  been  chosen  for 
the  final  point  of  departure.  The  autumn  season  was 
well  advanced.  Already  the  north  wind  blew  keen  and 
cold  across  the  lake.  The  canoes  were  tossed  about 
on  a  stormy  sea,  which  broke  with  violence  against 
the  inhospitable  coast,  threatening  shipwreck  if  they 
approached  it.  Often  the  canoes  would  be  swamped  in 
the  surf  when  the  rising  sea  made  it  dangerous  to  keep 
the  lake.  Often  the  explorers  threw  themselves  on  the 
frozen  ground  at  night,  wet  to  the  skin  and  famishing 
with  hunger. 

Reaching  the  St.  Joseph,  La  Salle  set  his  men  to 
work  building  a  fort,  while  he  anxiously  waited  the 
coming  of  Tonty,  who  had  been  ordered  to  join  him  at 
this  place.  At  last  Tonty  came.  Winter  had  now  set 
in.  In  the  first  days  of  December  the  united  party 
paddled  up  the  St.  Joseph,  crossed  over  the  portage  to 
the  Kankakee,  descended  it  to  the  Illinois,  reaching  at 
length  the  great  Illinois  town,2  numbering,  by  actual 
count,  four  hundred  and  sixty  lodges. 

To  their  great  disappointment  the  town  was  deserted, 
all  the  Illinois  having  gone  to  hunt  the  buffalo,  as  their 
custom  was  at  this  season  of  the  year.  It  was  a  heavy 


LA  SALLE,  PKTNCE  OF  EXPLORERS.      101 

blow  to  La  Salle,  who  had  expected  to  get  guides  and 
a  supply  of  food  here,  as  well  as  to  recruit  his  men. 
The  explorers  however  obtained  a  supply  by  opening 
the  caches*  in  which  the  Illinois  kept  their  winter  store. 

Somewhere  below  Peoria  Lake,  La  Salle  fell  in  with 
the  Illinois,  who  told  him  all  the  fables  they  could 
invent  in  order  to  prevent  his  going  on,  for  it  seems 
they  had  some  inkling  his  doing  so  would  be  prejudicial 
to  them  in  the  future. 

The  Mississippi,  they  said,  was  beset  by  men  of  fierce 
aspect  who  would  kill  them  all,  its  waters  infested  with 
serpents,  alligators  and  like  monsters  lying  in  wait  to 
devour  them,  while  the  river  itself  finally  plunged  into 
a  raging  whirlpool  in  which  they  and  their  canoes 
would  be  swallowed  up. 

Although  La  Salle  treated  these  silly  tales  with  the 
contempt  they  deserved,  they  took  effect  upon  his  men, 
six  of  whom  deserted  on  the  spot.  The  explorers  win- 
tered among  these  Illinois  in  a  fort  which  La  Salle 
significantly  named  CrSvecoeur.4 

The  name  tells  its  own  story.  On  the  lakes  they  had 
been  nearly  drowned.  On  the  march  they  had  often 
gone  hungry,  La  Salle  with  the  rest.  Treason  was  with 
him  in  his  own  camp,  danger  in  that  of  the  Illinois. 
His  own  men  had  tried  to  poison  him.  And  now,  to 
cap  the  climax  of  misfortune,  no  word  had  come  of  the 
Griffin5  —  the  Griffin  on  which  hung  all  hope  of  suc- 
cessfully continuing  their  search. 

But  nothing  could  shake  the  resolve  of  La  Salle. 
Sending  Father  Hennepin  to  explore  the  lower  course 
of  the  Illinois,  the  chief  left  Tonty  in  charge  of  Fort 
CrSvecceur,  while  he  himself  set  out  for  Frontenac  in 
order  to  learn  what  had  become  of  the  Griffin,  and  bring 


102 


IiA  SALLE,  PRINCE  OF  EXPLORERS. 


back  the  things  he  must  have  before  it  would  be  pos- 
sible to  stir  from  Fort  Cre"vecoeur  again. 

We  need  not  follow  him  on  this  remarkable  journey, 
itself  no  mean  exploit. 

La  Salle  had  not  yet  reached  the  Mississippi.  In 
August,  1680,  he  again  left  Montreal  with  this  object. 
Again  he  made  his  way  to  the  Illinois  village.  This 
time  heaps  of  charred  and  blackened  rubbish,  strewed 
with  mangled  bodies,  met  his  eyes.  During  his  absence 


INDIAN  WAMPUM  BELT. 


the  Iroquois  had  wreaked  their  vengeance  upon  the 
Illinois,  as  already  they  had  done  upon  the  Hurons. 

Where  was  the  faithful  Tonty  ?  What  had  become 
of  him?  After  La  Salle's  departure,  his  men  rose 
against  Tonty,  plundered  the  fort  of  what  was  worth 
taking,  demolished  it,  and  went  off  in  a  body,  leaving 
Tonty  to  shift  for  himself. 

But  where  was  he?  La  Salle  found  Crdvecceur  in 
ruins,  and  the  place  a  solitude. 

In  despair  La  Salle  searched  the  river  to  its  mouth, 
so  reaching  the  Mississippi  at  last,  but  without  finding 
the  least  trace  of  his  lieutenant.  On  every  side  fate 
seemed  conspiring  for  his  defeat. 


LA  SALLE,   PRINCE  OF   EXPLORERS.  103 

Still  undaunted,  for  the  third  time  La  Salle  set  out 
in  the  autumn  of  1681.  In  a  wonderful  manner  Tonty 
had  made  his  escape  from  the  Iroquois,  and  rejoined  his 
chief  on  the  lakes.  This  time  the  expedition  passed 
through  the  Chicago  River  to  the  Illinois,  and  thence 
down  to  the  Mississippi,  which  was  reached  on  the  6th 
of  February. 

After  a  short  stay  here  the  little  fleet  of  canoes 
resumed  the  long  voyage  before  them.  On  the  24th, 
the  explorers  landed  near  the  Third  Chickasaw  Bluff 
to  hunt.  Here  they  built  a  stockade  which  was  called 
Fort  Prudhomme.6 

Few  incidents  marked  the  passage  of  the  explorers 
through  the  countries  of  the  Arkansas,  Tensas7  and 
Natchez  nations,  till  the  Frenchmen  reached  the  neigh- 
borhood of  the  Quinipissas,  when  they  were  shot  at 
from  the  canebrakes  along  the  banks,  though  without 
receiving  any  hurt. 

Knowing  he  was  among  a  multitude  of  foes,  La  Salle 
prudently  refrained  from  returning  the  fire. 

On  the  6th  of  April,  the  explorers  found  the  river 
branching  out  before  them  in  three  streams.  Which  to 
take,  they  knew  not.  That  there  should  be  no  mistake 
about  it,  La  Salle  took  the  westernmost  himself,  Tonty 
the  middle,  and  another  the  eastern  branch.  Presently 
some  one  dipped  up  a  cupful  of  water  to  drink.  It 
proved  to  be  brackish  to  the  taste.  La  Salle  knew  now 
he  was  nearing  his  goal. 

At  last  the  canoes  glided  past  the  outermost  point  of 
low,  reedy  land,  out  upon  the  broad  bosom  of  the  Gulf. 

Landing  not  far  above  the  mouth  of  the  river,  La 
Salle  caused  the  arms  of  France  to  be  set  up  at  that 
place,  and  then  and  there,  on  the  ninth  day  of  April, 


104 


LA  8ALLE,   MltNCE  OF  EXPLORERS. 


1682,  he  took  formal  possession  of  the  country  watered 
by  the  Mississippi.  It  was  in  the  name  of  Louis  XIV. 
that  he  did  so,  in  whose  honor  La  Salle  declared  the 
name  of  this  vast  acquisition  to  be  Louisiana. 

Yet  in  no  long  time  we  find  Louis  writing  with  his 
own  hands  words  like  these :  "  Like  you," —  he  is  ad- 
dressing M.  de  La  Barre,8  —  "I  am  persuaded  that  the 
discovery  of  the  Sieur  de  La  Salle  is  very  useless ;  and 
it  is  necessary  hereafter  to  prevent  similar  enterprises 
which  can  have  no  other  result  than  to  debauch  the 
people  by  the  hope  of  gain,  and  to  diminish  the  revenue 
from  the  beaver." 


1  FORT  AT  NIAGARA,  on  the  east  side 
of  Niagara  River,  "a  little  below  the 
mountain-ridge  of  Lewiston ; "  came  into 
possession  of  United  States,  1796. 

2  GREAT    ILLINOIS    TOWN.      First 
known  to  the  whites  as  Kaskaskia  (see 
chapter  "  Joliet  and  Marquette  ") ;  its  site 
corresponds  with  the  village  of  Utica, 
on  the  Chicago  and  R.  I.  Railway,  five 
miles  east  of  La  Salle. 

8  CACHES,  French  for  hiding-places. 
The  word  is  naturalized  in  the  West. 
A  pit,  or  Indian  barn,  in  which  grain, 
etc.,  was  stored.  The  custom,  universal 
among  the  Indians,  was  adopted  by 
white  hunters  and  traders  in  their  expe- 
ditions. 

«  CRivECffiUR,  French,  broken- 
hearted. 

0  THE  GRIFFIN  should  have  brought 
back  cables,  anchors,  sails,  etc.,  for  a 
vessel  to  be  built  on  the  Illinois,  in 
which  La  Salle  purposed  sailing  down 
to  the  Gulf.  Though  the  vessel  was 


built,  the  purpose  came  to  naught  for 
reasons  given  in  the  text. 

6  FORT  PRUDHOMME  is  on  early 
maps.  So  nainc-d  for  one  of  La  Salle's 
men  who  wandered  away  and  was  lost 
in  the  woods.  La  Salle  left  a  few  men 
here  to  await  his  return. 

*  TENSAS.  The  customs  of  these 
peopfe  were  identical  with  those  de- 
scribed under  the  caption  of  "Florida 
Indians,"  as  seen  by  De  Soto's  men, 
which  see.  They  kept  a  sacred  fire 
burning.  (Refer  to  legend  of  Pecos, 
New  Mexico  Indians,  for  analogy  of  cus- 
toms  in  this  respect.)  Tensas  County, 
La.,  was  the  home  of  these  Indians.  La 
Salle  also  visited  the  Natchez  town,  near 
the  site  of  the  present  city  of  Natchez, 
where  he  saw  the  same  religious  rites 
performed  as  among  the  Tensas. 

8  DE  LA  BARRE  had  succeeded  Fron- 
tenac  as  governor  of  Canada.  He  was 
La  Salle's  enemy. 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE   UPPER   MISSISSIPPI.          105 


DISCOVERY  OF  THE  UPPER   MISSISSIPPI. 

IT  will  be  remembered,  that,  when  La  Salle  found 
himself  so  unfortunately  stopped  among  the  Illinois,  his 
active  mind  was  promptly  casting  about  for  something 
to  be  achieved  elsewhere.  This  object  he  found  in  the 
Upper  Mississippi,  which  he  determined  should  be 
explored  in  his  absence,  so  interlocking  his  own  dis- 
coveries with  those  of  Joliet  and  Marquette.  Two  of 
his  people  were  accordingly  sent  to  perform  this  duty, 
with  whom  went  Father  Hennepin,1  the  Franciscan  mis- 
sionary before  spoken  of. 

The  party  set  out  from  Fort  Cr&vecoeur  on  the  last 
day  of  February,  1680,  while  at  the  same  time  La  Salle 
was  starting  northward  for  Lake  Ontario. 

As  historian  of  the  expedition,  Hennepin's  vanity  has 
led  him  to  claim  the  leadership  for  himself,  while  he 
accuses  La  Salle  of  meaning  to  get  rid  of  him,2  in  the 
same  breath.  We  know,  however,  from  La  Salle  that 
neither  is  true.  La  Salle  was  much  too  good  a  judge  of 
character  not  to  see  through  the  friar  after  so  long  trial 
of  him,  though,  knowing  him  to  be  capable,  he  gave  him 
the  chance  of  being  useful.  For  the  expedition  itself, 
it  is  certain  La  Salle  had  it  much  at  heart.  Touching 
Hennepin's  narrative,  La  Salle  dryly  says  the  friar 
4*  spoke  more  according  to  his  wishes  than  what  he 
knew,"  or,  in  the  familiar  phrase,  was  in  the  habit  of 
drawing  on  his  imagination  for  his  facts. 

Hennepin  himself  seems  to  have  been  that  singular 
anomaly,  seldom  met  with  in  real  life,  a  brave  braggart, 
whose  self-conceit  and  arrogant  self-assertion  stand  forth 
in  strong  contrast  with  the  modesty  and  patience  al- 


106          DISCOVERY   OF   THE   UPPER   MISSISSIPPI. 

ways  shown  by  La  Salle  when  he  is  speaking  of  his 
own  achievements.  And  it  is  further  characteristic  of 
the  two  men,  that  while  one  felt  he  could  afford  to  wait 
for  time  to  do  him  justice,  the  other  sought  the  cheap 
glory  to  be  had  by  sounding  his  own  praise  abroad,  even 
when  exposure  was  certain  to  follow.  So  that  nothing 
Hennepin  has  written  can  be  accepted  as  true,  without 
other  evidence  to  substantiate  it.  The  more  is  the 
pity  !  But  the  exaggerations  of  all  our  early  chronicles 
show  that  they  were  penned  by  men  influenced  by  the 
passions  or  rivalries  of  the  time,  often  so  distorting  what 
is  true  as  to  make  it  fit  the  particular  end  they  may  have 
had  in  view.  To  this  lamentable  want  of  integrity  may 
be  attributed  the  fact  that  history  has  so  often  to  be 
re-written. 

For  six  weeks  the  explorers  plied  their  paddles  against 
the  current  of  the  Mississippi  unmolested.  One  day 
when  they  had  drawn  their  canoe  on  shore  to  repair  it, 
the  Frenchmen  were  suddenly  surrounded  by  a  war 
party  of  Sioux 3  —  the  very  people  of  all  others  whom 
they  most  wished  to  avoid. 

In  a  moment  the  whites  were  made  prisoners.  The 
scowling  looks  and  threatening  gestures  of  their  cap- 
tors boded  them  no  good.  Hennepin  proffered  the 
peace-pipe.  It  was  snatched  from  his  hand.  When  lie 
began  muttering  prayers  aloud,  the  Indians  angrily 
signed  to  him  to  be  silent,  thinking  he  was  preparing 
some  charm  to  overpower  them  with,  but  they  let  him 
chant  the  same  prayers,  he  says,  thinking  there  could 
be  no  sorcery  or  medicine  in  song.  Presently  the  Sioux 
began  their  homeward  journey,  thus  making  it  clear  to 
the  Frenchmen  that  their  future  discoveries  must  be 
made  as  captives. 


DISCOVERY   OF   THE    UPPER   MISSISSIPPI.          107 

In  nineteen  days  the  party  landed  near  the  site  of 
St.  Paul.4  From  here  the  trail  was  struck  leading  to 
the  Sioux  villages,  which  were  reached  after  five  days 
of  hard  marching  and  harder  usage  at  the  hands  of  the 
Sioux  warriors. 

Here  the  prisoners  were  separated,  Hennepin  going 
to  an  aged  chief  who  adopted  him  as  his  own  son.  So 
they  passed  the  winter  among 
the  Sioux. 

In  the  following  summer, 
when  the  Sioux  went  on  their 
annual  buffalo  hunt,  they  took 
the  three  Frenchmen  along 
with  them.  This  was  the  pris- 
oners' opportunity  for  regain- 
ing their  liberty,  and  they 
hastened  to  make  use  of  it. 
La  Salle  had  promised  to  send 
word  of  himself  to  them  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Wisconsin, 
and  they  knew  he  would  not 
fail  them.  Telling  the  Sioux 
their  friends  were  coming,  loaded  with  gifts,  the  greedy 
Sioux  were  easily  induced  to  let  Hennepin  and  one 
other  go  down  the  river  to  meet  them  alone  and  un- 
guarded. One  Frenchman  remained  behind  with  the 
Sioux  as  a  hostage  for  the  others. 

The  two  whites  began  their  descent  of  the  river, 
carrying  their  canoe  round  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony,6 
to  which  Father  Hennepin  gave  this  name,  till,  after 
many  adventures,  Lake  Pepin  6  was  reached. 

To  their  consternation,  the  travellers  were  overtaken 
at  this  point  by  a  party  of  Sioux  who  had  followed  their 


SIOUX  CHIEF. 


108      DISCO VEP.V  OF  THE  UPPER  MISSISSIPPI. 

prisoners  so  closely,  as  hardly  to  lose  sight  of  them, 
and  now  pushed  on  ahead  to  the  Wisconsin.  Finding 
neither  traders  7  nor  goods  there,  as  they  had  been  led 
to  expect,  the  Sioux  paddled  back  again  in  bad  humor  to 
the  place  where  the  whites  had  remained.  After  being 
soundly  rated  for  the  cheat  they  had  practised,  the 
unlucky  whites  were  forced  to  turn  about  and  go  back 
again  as  they  came. 

After  some  longer  stay  among  the  Sioux,  the  captives 
were  found  by  some  French  traders  who  had  made  their 

way  from  Lake  Superior, 
through  the  Sioux  country, 
to  the  Mississippi.  Hearing 
of  the  three  white  men, 
while  on  the  way,  these 
traders  had  kept  on  from 
village  to  village,  till  they 
reached  the  one  in  which 
Hennepin  and  his  compan- 
ions were  detained,  and  ran- 
somed them  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  savages. 
At  the  head  of  the  rescuing  party  was  one  Du  Lhut, 
or  Duluth,  for  whom  the  city  of  Duluth  is  named,  as 
Lake  Pepin  is  also  said  to  have  been  named  for  another 
of  this  party.  Thus,  in  St.  Anthony's  Falls,  Lake 
Pepin,  and  Duluth  we  have  a  group  of  names  com- 
memorating the  men  of  La  Salle's  exploring  party,  as 
well  as  the  exploration  itself. 

All  the  Frenchmen  now  returned  to  the  Sioux  vil- 
lages at  Mille  Lac  together. 

They  finally  made  their  way  back  to  the  French  set- 
tlements by  the  Wisconsin  and  Green  Bay  route,  as 


SIOUX  TOTEM. 


DISCOVERY    01'    Til  10    UPPER    MISSISSIPPI. 


109 


Marque tte  had  done  before  them,  and  the  Sioux 8  also 
for  many  generations  had  travelled  to  the  great  lake. 


«  FATHER  Louis  HENNEPIN,  a  Re- 
collet,  or  Franciscan  friar,  published  hi* 
Dfftcription  of  Louisiana,  1083,  with 
subsequent  editions,  uudcr  various  title*, 
IC'J",  10'JS,  etc.  While  his  exaggeration* 
make  it  difficult  to  separate  what  in  true 
from  what  is  false,  yet  hi*  writing**  arc 
an  indispensable  part  of  the  History  of 
the  Great  West. 

*  GET  RID  OP  IIiM,  by  exposing  him 
to  be  scalped  among  hostile  Indian*. 

s  Sioux,  properly  Dacotah",  may  be- 
nominally  divided  in  two  great  bodies  by 
the  Mississippi  River.  Those  living  on 
ttu-  ra>t  side  were  Eastern  Sioux,  those 
on  the  went,  Western  Sioux.  Their 
country  reached  from  the  westernmost 
tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  to  Lake  Su 
pcrior.  In  power,  they  were  to  the  \\Y-t 
what  the  Iroquois  were  to  the  East  —  the 
scourge  of  weaker  nations.  The  Sioux 
ri-di-d  their  lands  cast  of  the  Mississippi 
to  the  Uiilted  States,  in  1837,  living 
on  the  St.  Peter's  till  the  massacres  of 
1862-03  drove  them  theuce. 


«  ST.  PAUL,  nine  miles  below  the 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  capital  city  of 
Minnesota,  settled  about  1840;  Benjamin 
Gervais,  the  first  settler. 

8  FALL-  or  ST.  ANTHONY.  St.  An 
thony  of  Padua  was  Ilctincpin's  patron 
saint.  The  Sioux  were  in  the  habit  of 
banging  buffalo- robes  on  the  trees  as 
offerings  to  tbe  spirit  of  the  waters. 
Minneapolis  is  tbe  growth  of  the  water 
power  of  these  falls,  having  increased 
from  -J.5T4  in  1860,  to  46,000  in  1880. 

•  LAKE  PEPIN,  a  broadening  of  the 
Mississippi,  about  twenty  five  miles  long. 
There  is  a  pretty  Indian  legend    con- 
ncfU-d  with  Maiden's  Rock  in  the  lake, 
told  iu  Mrs.  Eastman's  Legends  of  the 
tfioux. 

•  LA  SALLB  asserts  that  the  Jesuits 
told  tbe  men  he  had  engaged  to  do  this 
that  the  friar  had  been  killed,  so  pre- 
venting them  from  going. 

•  THE  Sioux  ALSO.    Recall  the  fact 
stated  earlier,  that  Marquette  fell  in  with 
the  Sioux  at  or  about  Greeu  Bay. 


THE  LOST  COLONY:  ST.  LOUIS  OF  TEXAS. 

THUS,  in  1682,  La  Salle  had  secured  an  empire  for 
France,  and  at  last  found  a  legitimate  field  for  his  own 
ambition.  His  Louisiana  comprised  every  thing  be- 
tween the  Alleghanies  and  Rio  Grande,  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  and  Hudson's  Bay.  Upon  opening  the  maps 
of  the  time  we  find  the  English  crowded  into  the  com- 
paratively narrow  limits  extending  from  the  eastern 
slopes  of  the  Appalachian  range  to  the  sea,  the  Span- 
iards occupying  those  between  the  Rio  Grande  and 
Gulf  of  California,  while  the  whole  great  heart  of  the 


110        THE   LOST   COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS   OF   TEXAS. 

continent,  including  portions  of  Carolina  and  Florida, 
with  its  magnificent  system  of  waterways,  is  covered 
by  the  names  New  France  and  Louisiana. 

But  La  Salle  himself,  the  man  of  large  and  luminous 
views,  had  now  reached  the  high-water-mark  of  his 
achievements.  The  wave  which  owed  its  impetus  to 
his  active  brain,  expended  its  force  with  his  life. 

Upon  his  return  voyage  up  the  Mississippi  the  ex- 
plorer fell  sick.  He  was  taken  to  Fort  Prudhomme, 
the  one  built  by  his  order  on  the  way  down,  where  he 
lay  for  months  a  helpless  invalid,  chafing  under  the 
inaction  thus  forced  upon  him.  As  soon  as  he  felt 
strong  enough  to  bear  the  journey,  La  Salle  proceeded 
on  to  Michilimackinac,  where  he  was  no  sooner  arrived 
than  he  set  about  the  work  of  rebuilding  the  trading- 
post  on  the  Illinois,  in  room  of  the  one  his  treacher- 
ous followers  had  destroyed  in  his  absence. 

This  was  to  be  his  half-way  house  to  the  Mississippi. 
Here  he  trusted  to  gather  a  colony  alike  capable  of 
drawing  to  itself  all  the  trade  of  a  vast  tributary  region, 
as  of  defending  itself  and  his  allies,  the  Illinois,  against 
the  incursions  of  the  Iroquois. 

But  La  Salle's  greater  project  for  securing  the  results 
of  his  discoveries,  by  planting  a  colony  at  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  henceforth  looked  to  reaching  that  point 
by  sea  and  not  by  land.  To  transport  every  thing  over- 
land from  Quebec  to  the  Gulf  was  of  course  imprac- 
ticable. No  one  knew  this  better  than  La  Salle  himself, 
yet  he  also  foresaw  the  importance  of  keeping  the  way 
to  Canada  open  if  the  colony  at  the  Gulf  was  to  thrive. 
To  this  end  the  fort  on  the  Illinois,  and  that  at  the 
Chickasaw  Bluff,  were  but  incidents. 

After  establishing  himself  strongly  on  the   Illinois, 


THE   LOST   COLONY:   ST.    LOUIS   OF   TEXAS.        Ill 

La  Salle  went  to  France  in  order  to  lay  his  projects 
before  the  King. 

In  consequence  of  a  rupture  with  Spain  he  found  the 
court  well  disposed  to  listen  to  his  proposals.  These 
contemplated  the  building  of  a  fort  sixty  leagues  above 
the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  wnich  La  Salle  assumed 
would  draw  around -it,  as  to  a  common  centre,  all  the 
neighbor  tribes.  Gifts  and  good  usage  had  already  dis- 
posed these  tribes  favorably  toward  the  French,  while 
the  Spaniards  had  already  alienated  them  by  harsh 
treatment.  With  their  help  La  Salle  asserted  that 
the  conquest  of  New  Biscay,1  with  its  rich  silver- 
mines,  would  be  an  easy  matter,  because  there  were 
not  more  than  four  hundred  Spaniards  in  all  that 
province. 

The  plan  met  instant  favor.  To  enable  La  Salle 
to  carry  it  out,  four  vessels  were  given  him  instead  of 
the  two  he  asked  for.  A  naval  officer  by  the  name 
of  Beaujeu  was  assigned  to  command  them  at  sea.  La 
Salle  set  himself  to  work  with  his  usual  energy.  Sol- 
diers, priests  and  colonists,  arms,  munitions  and  stores, 
were  provided  in  sufficient  number  or  quantity  to  put 
the  colony  on  its  feet  at  once. 

Long  before  the  ships  were  ready  to  sail  from  Roche- 
fort,  La  Salle  and  Beaujeu  had  quarrelled.  Beaujeu 
overrated  himself,  and  underrated  La  Salle.  Often 
betrayed  by  those  he  trusted  most,  La  Salle's  naturally 
suspicious  nature  led  him  to  distrust  every  one,  above 
all  Beaujeu,  who  constantly  ridiculed  him  and  his 
schemes  to  his  friends.  So  La  Salle's  reserve  gave 
offence  to  Beaujeu,  who  grew  sulky,  and  was  at  no 
pains  to  conceal  his  dislike  for  the  whole  affair.  Here 
then  at  the  very  outset  the  seeds  of  disaster  were  sowed. 


U2      THE  LOST  COLONY:  ST.  LOUIS  OF  TEXAS. 

It  was  under  such  unpromising  conditions  that  the  fleet 
set  sail  in  July,  1684,  for  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Three  of  the  vessels  reached  St.  Domingo  in  two 
months,  with  a  large  number  of  sick  on  board,  of  whom 
La  Salle  himself  was  one.  The  fourth  had  been  taken 
at  sea  by  Spanish  buccaneers,  thus  depriving  the  colo- 
nists of  the  tools  and  provisions  with  which  she  was 
loaded. 

Upon  La  Salle's  recovery  from  what  came  near  prov- 
ing a  fatal  illness,  the  fleet  again  put  to  sea,  though  it 
was  now  November,  and  much  precious  time  had  been 
lost. 

Steering  westward  into  the  Gulf,  they  made  their 
landfall  on  New  Year's  Day,  but  when  La  Salle  went 
on  shore  to  look  about  him,  he  could  discover  no  sign 
of  the  great  river  he  was  in  search  of.  The  colonists 
were  upon  a  low,  flat  coast,  without  natural  landmarks 
to  guide  them,  or  knowledge  of  the  longitude  of  the 
place  they  were  seeking,  or  of  the  currents  which  the 
Gulf  sets  in  motion.  No  wonder,  then,  that  La  Salle 
failed  to  recognize  any  part  of  the  inhospitable  coast 
before  him. 

Finding  no  trace  of  the  Mississippi,  and  as  the  failure 
to  do  so  was  every  day  productive  of  disputes  between 
himself  and  Beaujeu,  La  Salle  resolved  to  land  where 
he  was,  notwithstanding  his  belief  that  he  had  gone  too 
far  to  the  westward.  He  was,  in  fact,  at  the  time  of 
taking  this  resolution,  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  more  than 
four  hundred  miles  from  the  Mississippi. 

Almost  at  the  moment  of  landing,  La  Salle's  store- 
ship,  which  contained  the  greater  part  of  his  provisions, 
grounded,  and  became  a  wreck ;  it  is  said,  through  the 
carelessness  or  treachery  of  her  master,  who  also  was  on 


THE   LOST   COLONY.    ST.    LOUIS   OF  TEXAS.        113 

bad  terms  with  La  Salle.  Indeed,  from  first  to  last  La 
Salle's  enemies  seem  to  have  exerted  themselves  to  ruin 
him  with  a  zeal  that,  if  honestly  employed,  would  easily 
have  insured  the  success  of  all  his  plans. 

This  disaster,  taken  with  the  fact  that  he  knew  not 
where  he  was,  would  have  staggered  any  one  but  La 
Salle.  His  dispirited  people  were  huddled  together  on 
the  sands,  among  the  bales  and  boxes  saved  from  the 
wreck,  out  of  which  they  made  themselves  a  temporary 
intrenchment  and  shelter,  for  like  vultures  who  scent 
their  prey  from  afar,  hostile  Indians  hovered  about  the 
encampment,  watching  their  chance  to  cut  off  any  who 
should  stray  away  from  its  protection. 

Yet  misgiving  for  the  success  of  an  enterprise  so  dis- 
astrously begun,  was  turned  into  dread  when  the  colo- 
nists learned  that  they  were  nowhere  near  their  actual 
destination.  La  Salle,  indeed,  tried  to  put  heart  in  them 
by  pretending  to  believe  otherwise,  but  a  little  time 
soon  dispelled  this  fallacy.  He,  however,  took  the  best 
means  of  quieting  discontent  by  setting  every  one  at 
work.  Beaujeu  had  sailed  away  after  promising  much, 
but  performing  little  else.  The  colonists  now  had 
much  more  to  fear  from  the  Spaniards,  than  the  Span- 
iards from  them.  Yet  for  La  Salle  nothing  remained 
but  to  make  the  best  of  the  situation  until  he  should 
have  time  to  look  it  fairly  in  the  face. 

Meanwhile,  the  essential  thing  to  be  done  was  to  get 
his  people  housed  in  a  situation  which  should  admit  of 
their  living  in  some  comfort  and  security,  as  the  place 
where  they  first  landed  was  alike  destitute  of  wood, 
water  and  comfortable  lodging. 

He  therefore  chose  a  site  on  the  Lavaca  River,2  two 
leagues  above  its  entrance  into  Matagorda  Bay.  To 


114       THE   LOST   COLONY:   ST.   LOUIS   OP   TEXAS. 

this  place  the  colonists  removed  themselves  and  their 
goods,  and  under  the  energetic  direction  of  La  Salle, 
whose  previous  training  now  stood  him  in  good  stead, 
they  set  about  building  themselves  a  home  in  this  out- 
of-the-way  corner  of  the  world.  As  it  rose  from  the 
soil,  the  ever-loyal  La  Salle  named  it  St.  Louis,3  in 
honor  of  his  sovereign. 

The  summer  was  hot  and  sickly.  Death  was  soon 
busy  among  the  colonists,  those  who  ate  wild  fruits 
imprudently  suffering  first  of  all.  Now  and  then  the 
Indians  would  kill  some  straggling  hunter.  Thus,  in 
one  or  another  form,  death  lurked  about  them.  And 
beneath  these  apparent  dangers,  in  which  all  shared 
alike,  smouldered  the  embers  of  unreasoning  discontent 
which  certain  of  La  Salle's  followers  were  always  fan- 
ning into  a  flame. 

Having  seen  his  people  comfortably  housed,  arid  in 
condition  to  defend  themselves,  the  indefatigable  La 
Salle  now  turned  his  attention  to  the  prime  purpose  of 
his  expedition,  with  the  certainty  of  the  needle  to  its 
pole,  for  all  he  had  so  far  done  was  merely  a  step  in 
this  direction.  There  was  no  time  to  lose. 

Although  it  is  not  clear  why  La  Salle  should  deter- 
mine to  march  overland,  rather  than  make  search  along 
the  shores,  the  character  of  the  Gulf  coast  affords  a 
possible  clew.  This  is  described  by  Mr.  Cable  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Across  the  southern  end  of  the  State,"  —  he  is 
speaking  now  of  Louisiana,  —  "  from  Sabine  Lake  to 
Chandeleur  Bay,  with  a  north  and  south  width  of  from 
ten  to  thirty  miles,  and  an  average  of  about  fifteen, 
stretch  the  Gulf  marshes,  the  wild  haunt  of  myriads  of 
birds  and  water-fowl,  serpents  and  saurians,  hares,  rac- 
coons and  wildcats,  deep-bellowing  frogs,  and  clouds  of 


THE   LOST   COLONY:    ST.    LOUIS   OB"   TEXAS.         115 

insects,  and  by  a  few  hunters  whose  solitary  and  rarely 
frequented  huts  speck  the  wide  green  horizon  at  remote 
intervals." 

It  was  now  October,  1685.  With  fifty  men  La  Salle 
set  out  for  the  river  he  had  discovered  only  to  lose 
again.  Those  who  staid  behind,  lived  on  buffalo- 
meat,3  turtles,  oysters,  fish,  and  wild  fowl  which  the 
1> rallies  or  lagoons  around  them  plentifully  supplied  in 
their  season. 

In  March,  the  exploring  party  came  back  unsuccess- 
ful and  in  rags.  They  had  wandered  far,  but  had  not 
found  the  Mississippi.  One  crowning  disaster  now  befell 
these  exiles.  Up  to  this  time  they  had  kept  one  little 
vessel  of  their  fleet  with  them,  which  was  to  take  them 
to  the  Mississippi  so  soon  as  its  exact  situation  should 
be  discovered.  This  vessel,  in  which  their  sole  depend- 
ence lay,  was  now  lost. 

In  desperate  situations,  desperate  measures  are  alone 
to  be  availed  of.  La  Salle's  resolve  was  heroic.  He 
determined  to  make  a  last  effort  to  reach  the  Missis- 
sippi and  the  lakes.  Indeed,  there  was  now  no  hope 
of  obtaining  relief  nearer  than  Canada,  therefore  to 
Canada  he  must  go,  leaving  the  colonists  to  await  his 
return. 

For  this  purpose  La  Salle  chose  twenty  men,  with 
whom  he  again  set  out  from  the  fort  on  the  22d  of 
April,  1G8G.  Each  man  carried  his  own  pack  and 
weapons,  and  as  the  little  band  filed  out  upon  the 
prairie,  the  hopes  of  the  lost  colony  went  forth  with 
them  in  their  desperate  venture. 

But  these  hopes  sunk  low  when  La  Salle  came  back 
with  only  eight  of  the  twenty  who  had  gone  with  him. 
The  explorers  had  penetrated  as  far  as  the  country  of 


116        THE   LOST   COLONY:    ST.   LOUIS   OF   TEXAS. 

the  Cenis  Indians,4  when  sickness  and  desertion  had 
so  crippled  their  strength  as  to  make  further  progress 
hopeless  for  the  time.  They,  however,  procured  some 
horses  from  the  Indians  which  were  brought  back  to 
the  fort. 

No  other  resource  being  open,  La  Salle  once  more 
essayed  the  task  before  him.  In  the  straits  in  which  he 
and  his  people  were  placed,  his  splendid  qualities  for 
leadership  shine  out  of  the  gloom  like  a  guiding  star. 
The  resources  of  the  colony  were  nearly  exhausted  in 
fitting  out  previous  parties,  but  the  scanty  stores  were 
ransacked  anew  to  equip  those  who  were  to  be  the  saviors 
of  the  rest.  The  horses  which  La  Salle  had  brought  in 
were  loaded  with  baggage  and  ammunition.  All  was 
ready.  A  midnight  mass  was  solemnly  said.  La  Salle 
spoke  a  few  hopeful  words  to  those  who  were  to  endure 
a  suspense  perhaps  even  greater  than  his  own,  and  then, 
mastering  his  own  feelings,  he  turned  away  to  join  his 
followers,  —  the  forlorn  hope  of  the  expiring  colony. 

On  the  15th  of  March,  1687,  the  hunters  who  were 
out  killed  a  buffalo.  The  party  therefore  halted  till 
the  meat  could  be  brought  into  camp.  Here  it  was 
that  the  hatred,  long  nursed  in  secret,  openly  revealed 
itself  in  murder.  Misery  always  begets  quarrels,  but  in 
this  case  the  sole  incitement  was  revenge.  La  Salle 
had  the  unhappy  faculty  of  making  enemies,  of  whom 
his  worst  ones  were  then  close  at  hand,  and  plotting 
for  his  life.  A  quarrel  about  the  meat  hastened  the 
work  on.  Those  who  were  faithful  to  La  Salle  became 
the  conspirators'  first  victims.  Three  of  these,  whom 
La  Salle  had  sent  over  to  the  hunters'  camp,  were 
butchered  while  they  slept. 

La  Salle  himself  was  encamped  six  miles  distant  from 


THE  LOST  COLONY:   ST.  LOUIS  OF  TEXAS.        117 

the  place  where  these  murders  were  committed.  Grow- 
ing uneasy  at  the  long  absence  of  the  men  he  had  sent 
away,  he  started  with  an  Indian  guide  for  their  camp. 
A  friar  named  Douay  also  accompanied  him.  This  friar 
noted  in  La  Salle's  talk  and  manner  the  presentiment 
of  coming  evil.  On  reaching  a  point  which  he  supposed 
to  be  near  the  hunters'  camp,  La  Salle  fired  his  musket 
as  a  signal.  One  of  the  conspirators  showed  himself, 
while  the  others  lay  hid  in  the  long  prairie-grass  unob- 
served. La  Salle  fell  into  the  snare  thus  set  for  him. 
While  advancing  toward  the  decoy,  whose  insolent 
replies  angered  him,  La  Salle  constantly  neared  the 
ambuscade.  Suddenly  a  shot  was  fired.  When  the 
smoke  cleared  away,  La  Salle  was  seen  stretched  life- 
less upon  the  prairie.  He  was  quite  dead.6  The  bullet 
had  gone  through  his  brain. 

Thus,  in  the  prime  of  life,  fell  Robert  Cavelier  de  La 
Salle,  and  thus  again  must  history  record  its  indignant 
protest  in  the  death  of  a  man  of  highest  intellectual 
force,  whose  worth  to  the  world  was  monumental  as  com- 
pared with  that  of  the  vulgar  assassin  who  slew  him. 


1  NEW  BISCAY.  Refer  to  chapter  murder,  the  survivors  went  forward 

"  New  Mexico."  to  the  Cems  villages.  In  a  quarrel 

1  LAVACA  RIVER,  also  called  by  the  about  the  plunder,  two  of  the  ringlead- 

Vrench  La  Vache  (the cow).  ere,  Duhaut  and  Liotot,  were  killed 

s  ST.  Louis.  This  name  was  some  by  their  confederates.  This  left  the 

time  preserved  in  connection  with  St.  way  open  for  Joutel,  the  two  priests, 

Bernard,  or  MATAGORDA  BAY.  Not  to  Cavelier  (La Sal IC'H  brother),  and  Douay, 

be  confounded  with  St.  Louis  of  the  with  three  others,  to  continue  their  at- 

Illinois.  tempt  to  reach  the  Mississippi.  Those 

«  CENIS  INDIANS  occupied  the  east  implicated  in  La  Salle's  murder,  dared 

bank  of  the  Trinity,  toward  Red  River.  not  return  to  the  settlements.  With 

*  THE  MURDER  is  located  at  a  point  Indian  guides  the  river  was  struck  at  the 

nearly  midway  between  the  Brazos  and  Arkansas  villages,  where  the  fugitives 

Trinity  Rivers,  on  a  map  in  the  au  met  with  two  of  Tonty's  men,  who 

Shor's  possession,  and  not  far  from  the  helped  them  on  their  way.  Tonty  had 

old  Spanish  trail  between  Nacodoches  been  down  the  river  on  a  fruitless  search 

and  the  Presidio  del  Norte.  After  the  for  La  Salle. 


118      THE  LOST  COLONY:  ST.  LOUIS  OF  TEXAS. 

NOTE.  —  THE  COLONISTS  AT  ST.  order  to  keep  out  intruders  like  La  Salle. 
Louis,  except  three  or  four  who  were  Geographical  knowledge  was  also  re- 
carried  into  captivity,  were  all  massacred  markably  extended, 
by  the  Indians.  A  Spanish  expedition  in  *  TEXAS.  The  name,  in  its  present 
1689  found  the  place  a  solitude.  Those  orthography,  occurs  at  this  time  in  con- 
who  escaped  subsequently  related  what  nection  ™.th,,If  Salle' s  colony,  but  is 

first  found  in  "  A  Briefe  Relation  of  Two 

had  occurred.    Although  this  was  the  Notable  Voyages"   (Hakluyt  iii.  464), 

first  white    colony    to    be    founded    in  made  first  by  the  friar  Augustm  Ruiz,  in 

Texas,*  in  itself  it  was  an  accident,  no  \581' l?  th.e  Tteuas  Indians,  and  next  by 

less  productive  of  results,  because  it  led  £"$£  %3S$?t£  na'me  wifSg 

the  Spaniards  to  occupy  the  country  in  turned  into  Texas,  its  present  rendering. 


IBERVILLE    FOUNDS   LOUISIANA. 

WHERE  La  Salle  had  sowed,  others  were  to  reap,  yet 
so  comprehensive  were  his  plans,  so  well  matured,  so 
entirely  feasible  withal,  that  what  followed  was  but  the 
natural  result  of  his  efforts.  La  Salle  was  like  the  gen- 
eral who  falls  in  the  moment  of  victory.  All  honor 
then  to  his  name ! 1  % 

Therefore  while  we  record  his  failure,  individually, 
to  do  all  he  purposed  in  this,  his  last  expedition,  the 
success  which  came  later  was  due  to  the  master  mind 
of  La  Salle.  We  shall  not  find,  in  any  explorer  of  his 
time,  so  original  a  mind  united  with  such  rare  gifts  for 
doing  the  work  to  which  he  devoted  himself. 

For  a  time,  the  project  of  colonizing  Louisiana2 
quietly  slept.  It  was  then  revived  by  a  naval  officer 
named  Iberville,3  who  thus  became,  in  a  manner,  heir  to 
La  Salle's  projects. 

Iberville  promised  to  rediscover  the  mouth  of  the 
Mississippi,  and  hold  it  afterward  by  building  a  fort  at 
its  mouth,  just  as  La  Salle  would  have  done  if  he  had 
lived  to  carry  out  his  schemes. 

Although  it  had  slumbered    long,  the    moment  the 


IBERVILLE   FOUNDS   LOUISIANA.  119 

project  was  renewed  by  so  capable  a  man  as  Iberville, 
every  intelligent  Frenchman  saw  its  importance.  The 
minister  Ponchartrain  approved  it  directly  it  was 
broached  to  him,  the  more  because  he  knew  that  if  any 
man  could  succeed  in  what  he  undertook,  Iberville 
would. 

Iberville  had  seen  much  service  in  Canada,  Hudson's 
Buy  and  Newfoundland.  Being  himself  a  naval  officer 
of  rank,  he  would  command  his  own  ships,  and  not  be 
hampered  by  a  divided  command,  or  the  jealousy  of  a 
rival,  which  had  proved  such  a  formidable  stumbling- 
block  to  La  Salle. 

As  the  war  was  now  over,  Iberville  wished  to  distin- 
guish himself  by  some  worthy  action  done  in  the  inter- 
ests of  peaceful  conquest. 

Two  ships  were  therefore  got  ready,  which  sailed 
from  Rochefort  in  October,  1698,  and  anchored  at  St. 
Domingo4  in  December.  Sailing  thence  they  fell  in 
with  the  Florida  coast  January  27.  A  bay  opened 
before  them.  Iberville  wished  to  put  into  this  port, 
but  on  attempting  to  do  so  he  found  it  in  the  posses- 
sion of  three  hundred  Spaniards  from  Vera  Cruz,  whose 
commander  forbade  his  landing  there.  This  place  was 
called  Pensacola.6 

Fearing  the  Spaniards  were  on  the  same  errand6 
with  himself,  Iberville  at  once  made  sail  for  the  west- 
ward, hugging  the  shores  as  closely  as  possible  in  order 
not  to  miss  the  river  among  the  mists  which  commonly 
hang  over  and  hide  it  from  view.  Finding  in  Mobile 
Bay  a  harbor  where  his  ships  could  safely  ride,  while 
he  himself  continued  the  search  along  the  shore  in 
boats,  Iberville  came  to  an  anchor  there. 

Very  shortly  his  exploring  parties  came  to  the  Pasca- 


120  IBERVILLE  FOUNDS   LOUISIANA. 

goula  River,  where  they  found  many  savages  living. 

From  this  river  they  pushed  on  through  the  intervening 

lagoons  that  everywhere  intersect  this   shallow  shore, 

till,  on  the  2d  of  March,  the 
Mississippi  itself  was  entered 
through  one  of  its  numerous 
passes. 

Sailing  on  up  the  river,  Iber- 
ville  passed  first  one  populous 
town  and  then  another,  re- 
ceiving everywhere  a  cordial 
welcome  from  the  savages, 
yet  doubting  within  himself 
whether  he  was  on  the  true 
Mississippi,  till  one  day  a  chief 
brought  him  a  letter7  which 
Tonty  had  left  for  La  Salle 
thirteen  years  before,  when, 
after  searching  for  his  chief  in 
vain,  this  trusty  comrade  had 
turned  back  for  the  Illinois. 

After  mentioning  that  he 
had  found  La  Salle's  cross 
thrown  down,  and  had  set  up 
another  in  a  better  place,  the 
letter  concludes  by  saying,  "  It 
is  a  great  chagrin  to  me  that 
we  are  going  back  without  find- 
ing you,  after  having  coasted 

the  Mexican  (Louisiana)  shore  for  thirty  leagues,  and 

the  Florida  twenty-five." 

This  letter  having  removed  all  Iberville's  doubts,  he 

fell  down  the  river  again,  and  having  nowhere  found. 


SUGAR  PLANT. 


IBEKVILLE  FOUNDS   LOUISIANA.  121 

within  sixty  leagues  of  the  Gulf,  a  proper  place  to 
begin  a  settlement  on,  he  turned  back  to  the  Bay  of 
Biloxi,  where  a  spot  was  chosen  and  the  ground  marked 
out  for  one. 

After  seeing  the  establishment  at  Biloxi  well  under 
way,  Iberville  took  ship  for  France.  He  was  back 
again  early  in  January,  1701.  During  his  absence  an 
English  corvette  had  sailed  twenty-five  leagues  up  the 
Mississippi  to  a  point  where  the  river  sweeps  grandly 
round  to  the  east.  At  this  place  her  captain  was 
warned  back  by  the  French,  from  which  circumstance 
the  bend  received  the  name  of  the  English  Turn,  which 
it  has  ever  since  borne. 

Iberville  also  learned  that  English  traders  from  Caro- 
lina 8  had  penetrated  into  the  Chickasaw  country  above 
him.  Finding  himself  menaced  both  by  sea  and  land, 
and  delay  dangerous,  Iberville  shut  up  the  entrance 
from  sea  by  mounting  some  cannon  near  the  mouth  of 
the  river. 

The  century  turned  noiselessly  on  its  hinges  with 
no  other  establishments  in  all  this  great  domain  of 
Louisiana  except  that  planted  by  La  Salle  on  the  Illi- 
nois, and  the  one  at  Biloxi. 

In  1701  Iberville  began  a  settlement  at  Mobile.  The 
next  year  he  erected  storehouses  and  barracks  on  Dau- 
phine  Island9  for  permanent  occupation.  In  a  few 
years  this  island  became  the  general  headquarters  of 
the  Louisiana  colony.  Nothing  worthy  of  the  name, 
however,  existed  before  1708.  Up  to  this  time  the 
handful  of  colonists  lived  on  what  was  sent  them  from 
France,  or  obtained  by  trading  French  goods  with  the 
savages.  They  sowed  wheat,  but  found  the  climate  too 
damp  for  growing  it  with  success.  They  also  began 


122 


IBERVILLE   FOUNDS   LOUISIANA. 


the   planting   of  tobacco,  which   did   so  well   that  its 
culture  presently  became  a  mainstay  of  the  colony. 

But  while  Iberville  had  thus  gained  a  foothold,  in 
what   might  be    called   a   good   strategic   position  for 


MOUTHS  OP  THE  MISSISSIPPI,  AND  ADJACENT  COASTS. 

approaching  the  Mississippi,  either  from  sea  or  through 
Lake  Ponchartrain,  he  was  actually  but  little  nearer 
than  the  Spaniards  at  Pensacola,  who  kept  a  watch  on 
all  his  movements.  Never  did  nature  seem  more  per- 
sistently thwarting  the  schemes  of  men  than  in  the 


IBERVILLE   FOUNDS   LOUISIANA. 


123 


attempt  of  these  Frenchmen  to  enter  upon  what  they 
considered  their  rightful  inheritance. 


1  LA  SALLE'S  NAMK  in  porpetuated 
in  many  places  in  the  United  States, 
notably  iu  a  city  and  county  of  Illinois. 

1  COLONIZIM.  I. <>i  I-IANA  quietly 
slept,  partly,  but  not  wholly,  in  conse 
quemv  of  war  »>••( ween  Kii^'luud  and 
Frauce. 

3  IBERVILLE,  LE  MOVNE  DE.waflone 
of  eight  brothn H,  all  eminent  in  the 
annals  of  Canada.  He  was  considered 
one  of  the  greatest  sailor*  France  has 
produced.  In  1685  he  assisted  in  e.\|>el 
ling  the  English  from  Hudson'*  r..i\. 
Aftrrwaid  lie  look  part  in  the  deiVm-e 
of  (^uebee  l>y  Fruntenac;  destroyed 
IVmai|iiid;  and  took  St  .loli-i's.  New 
foimdlanti.  At*  a  commander  be  was 
almo-i  uniformly  succiMtiful.  Ibcmlle's 
name  is  perpetuated  iu  a  town  and  jjar 
i>h  -if  Louisiana. 

«  ST.  DOMINGO,  or  Ilayti,  had  been 
sei/ed  \>\  French  buccaneers,  Ift30.  The 
French  government  took  posse** ion  of 
tin-  island,  l''>77,  thus  establishing  a 
dt:j,ot  for  their  operations  in  the  Gulf 
of  Mexico. 

6  I'ENSACOLA  (Indian).  A  place  of 
much  historic  interest.  First  discovered, 


according  to  the  Spaniards,  by  Narvaez, 
then  by  Maldonado,  one  of  De  Soto's 
captains.  It  received  several  Spanish 
naiin •.-,  notably  that  of  Santa  Maria  de 
Galve,  but  linally  retained  that  of  the 
neighboring  tribe  of  savages. 

8  ON  TUB  SAME  EKKANU.  That  the 
Spaniards  knew  of  the  Mis.-issippi  is 
clear  from  their  having  given  it  the  name 
Iberville  afterward  found  so  apt  when 
ascending  it,  —  Rio  de  los  Paliswide*. — 
a  title  KugguHted  by  the  enormous  rafw 
of  uprooted  trees  which  the  river  brought 
down  and  left  stranded  at  it*  mouth. 

1  TONTY'S  LETTEK  wa*»  left  in  the 
forkrt  of  a  tree  where  the  Indians  found 
it.  It  may  be  seen  in  full  iu  Charlevoiz, 
n.  259. 

•  ENGLISH  TRADERS  from  Carolina 
were  pushing  their  way  acrow*  the  Ap- 
IKilaehians.  Many  French  Protestants 
who  had  fled  from  their  country  on  the 
revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  were 
Mettled  in  South  Carolina,  and  it  was 
feared  the  English  would  attempt  to 
settle  a  colony  of  them  in  Louisiana. 

»  DAUPBINE,  originally  Massacre 
Island. 


FRANCE  WINS  THE  PRIZE. 

1 A  soldier,  fire,  and  water,  soon  make  room  for  themselves. " 

IBERVILLE  died  at  Havana  in  1706,  leaving  his  un- 
completed work  to  his  younger  brother,  Bienville,1  who 
set  vigorously  about  it. 

Many  believed  Natchez  to  be  the  best  point  on  the 
river  for  founding  a  settlement.  Natchez  therefore 
assumed  importance  to  French  plans  for  the  future. 
But  Natchez  was  the  principal  seat  of  a  powerful  nation 


124 


FRANCE   WINS   THE   PK1ZE. 


whose  enmity  it  would  be  impolitic  to  arouse  by  making 
forcible  entry  upon  their  lands.  An  opportunity  soon 
offered  itself,  however,  which  Bienville  quickly  took 
advantage  of. 

In  the  first  place  some  outrages  committed  by  the 
Natchez  upon  passing  traders  gave  Bienville  the  pretext 

he  sought  for  building  a  fort 
at  their  village,  which  was 
promptly  done  (1714). 

These  people  being  over- 
awed, the  next  step  taken 
was  the  building  of  a  forti- 
fied house  at  Natchitoches,2 
on  the  Red  River,  as  a 
check  to  the  Spaniards,  who, 
already,  were  working  their 
way  east  from  the  Rio 
Grande  toward  the  Missis- 
sippi, partly  to  overawe  the 
troublesome  Comanches,and 
partly  to  engross  the  Indian 
trade  of  that  region  for 
themselves.  Thus  early  in 
its  history  the  Mississippi 
and  its  commerce  were  be- 
come a  bone  of  contention 
between  English,  Spaniards  and  French. 

Again  the  folly  of  farming  out  the  trade  of  a  whole 
country  to  a  single  individual,  which  had  been  tried 
in  Canada  with  such  bad  effects,  was  repeated  here  in 
Louisiana.  This  monopoly  was  granted  (1712)  to 
Anthony  Crozat  for  twenty-five  years.  Like  all  specu- 
lators, Crozat  aimed  to  make  the  most  in  the  shortest 


FRANCE    WINS   THE    PRIZE.  125 

time,  letting  the  future  of  the  colony  take  care  of  itself. 
He  was  to  control,  absolutely,  all  that  came  into  the 
colony  or  went  out  of  it.  Agriculture  was  neglected 
and  trade  only  encouraged.  And  all  trade  was  monopo- 
lized by  Anthony  Crozat.  This  was  the  penny  wise, 
pound  foolish,  colonial  system  of  France,  adopted  with 
the  purpose  of  putting  a  little  money  into  the  royal 
treasury  at  a  nominal  saving  to  it  of  certain  sums 
required  for  maintaining  its  authority  in  the  colony. 
This  policy  turned  the  colony  into  a  trading-post,  and 
the  people  themselves  into  dependants  of  Crozat. 

When  Crozat  entered  upon  his  exclusive  privileges 
there  were  but  twenty-eight  families  in  the  whole  prov- 
ince, of  whom  not  more  than  half  were  actual  settlers, 
the  rest  being  either  traders,  innkeepers  or  laborers, 
who  had  no  fixed  residence. 

The  roving  traders,  or  Coureurs  de  Bois,*  bartered 
French  goods  with  the  Indians  for  peltries  arid  slaves, 
which  were  sold  in  the  settlements.  It  was  found  that 
tobacco,  indigo,  cotton  and  rice  could  be  profitably 
cultivated,  but  none  except  slaves  were  employed  in 
tilling  the  soil,  which,  indeed,  is  comparatively  worthless 
in  the  neighborhood  where  the  colonists  first  located 
themselves.  Consequently  only  such  things  as  would 
help  to  eke  out  a  subsistence — such  as  corn,  vegetables 
and  poultry  —  were  cultivated  at  all.  In  a  word,  the 
colony  literally  lived  from  hand  to  mouth.  Instead  of 
growing  stronger  and  richer,  of  its  own  robust  growth, 
it  grew,  if  possible,  weaker  and  poorer  by  reason  of 
a  policy,  or  system,  under  which  no  colony  has  eve* 
thrived. 

Little  inducement  was  held  out  for  the  colonist  to 
identify  himself  with  the  country,  or  feel  that  he  and 


126 


FRANCE    WINS   THE    PRIZE. 


it  must  grow  up  together.  He  was  a  sojourner  in  a 
strange  land.  He  could  never  hope  to  get  rich  by 
trade,  since  every  thing  must  pass  through  the  hands 
of  Crozat's  agents,  at  a  price  fixed  by  them. 

This  was  by  no  means  the  whole  weakness  of  Lou- 
isiana in  her  infancy.  Perhaps  the  primary  evil  lay  in 

the  fact  that  so 
far  the  French 
neither  con- 
trolled access  to 
the  Mississippi, 
in  the  place 
where  they  were, 
or  had  formed 
any  settled  plan 
for  securing  that 
solid  foothold  on 
its  banks  which 
alone  could  ren- 
der them  mas- 
ters of  the  situa- 
tion. 

Crozat's  fail- 
ure was,  in  the 
nature  of  things, 
foreordained.  His  scheme,  indeed,  proved  a  stumbling- 
block  to  the  colony  and  a  loss  to  himself.  In  five  years 
(1717)  he  was  glad  to  surrender  his  monopoly  to  the 
crown. 

From  its  ashes  sprung  the  gigantic  Mississippi  Scheme 
of  John  Law,4  to  whom  all  Louisiana,  now  including 
the  Illinois  country,  was  granted  for  a  term  of  years. 
Compared  with  this  prodigality  Crozat's  concession  was 


FUENCU   SOLDIEKS. 


FRANCE    WINS   THE   PRIZE. 

but  a  plaything.  It  not  only  gave  Law's  Company 
proprietary  rights  to  the  soil,  but  power  was  con- 
ferred to  administer  justice,  make  peace  or  war  with 
the  natives,  build  forts,  levy  troops  and  with  consent 
of  the  crown  to  appoint  such  military  governors  as  it 
should  think  fitting.  These  extraordinary  privileges 
were  put  in  force  by  a  royal  edict,  dated  in  September, 
1717. 

The  new  company  granted  lands  along  the  river  to 
individuals  or  associated  persons,  who  were  sometimes 
actual  emigrants,  sometimes  great  personages  who  sent 
out  colonists  at  their  own  cost,  or  again  the  company 
itself  undertook  the  building  up  of  plantations  or  lands 
reserved  by  it  for  the  purpose.  One  colony  of  Alsa- 
tians was  sent  out  by  Law  to  begin  a  plantation  on 
the  Arkansas.5  Others,  more  or  less  flourishing,  were 
located  at  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  Natchez  and  Baton 
Rouge.  All  were  agricultural  plantations,  though  in 
most  cases  the  plantations  themselves  consisted  of  a 
few  poor  huts  covered  with  a  thatch  of  palm-leaves. 
The  earliest  forts  were  usually  a  square  earthwork, 
strengthened  with  palisades  about  the  parapet. 

The  company's  agricultural  system  was  founded  upon 
African  slave  labor.6  Slaves  were  brought  from  St. 
Domingo  or  other  of  the  West  India  islands.  By  some 
their  employment  was  viewed  with  alarm,  because  it 
was  thought  the  blacks  would  soon  outnumber  the 
whites,  and  might  some  day  rise  and  overpower  them ; 
but  we  find  only  the  feeblest  protest  entered  against 
the  moral  wrong  of  slavery  in  any  record  of  the  time. 
Negroes  could  work  in  the  fields,  under  the  burning 
sun,  when  the  whites  could  not.  Their  labor  cost  no 
more  than  their  maintenance.  The  planters  easily 


128  FRANCE   WINS   THE   PRIZE. 

adopted  what,  indeed,  already  existed  among  their 
neighbors.  Self-interest  stifled  conscience. 

The  new  company  wisely  appointed  Bienville  gov- 
ernor. Three  ships  brought  munitions,  troops,  and 
stores  of  every  sort  from  France,  with  which  to  put  new 
life  into  the  expiring  colony. 

It  was  at  this  time  (February,  1718)  that  Bienville 
began  the  foundation  of  the  destined  metropolis  of 
Louisiana.  The  spot  chosen  by  him  was  clearly  but  a 
fragment  of  the  delta  which  the  river  had  been  for  ages 
silently  building  of  its  own  mud  and  driftwood.  It  had 
literally  risen  from  the  sea.  Elevated  only  a  few  feet 
above  sea-level,  threatened  with  frequent  inundation, 
and  in  its  primitive  estate  a  cypress  swamp,  it  seemed 
little  suited  for  the  abode  of  men,  yet  time  has  con- 
firmed the  wisdom  of  the  choice. 

Here,  then,  a  hundred  miles  from  the  Gulf,  on  the 
alluvial  banks  of  the  great  river,  twenty-five  convicts 
and  as  many  carpenters  were  set  to  work  clearing  the 
ground  and  building  the  humble  log  cabins,  which  were 
to  constitute  the  capital,  in  its  infancy. 

The  settlement  was  named  New  Orleans,7  in  honor  of 
the  Regent,  Orleans,  who  ruled  France  during  the 
minority  of  Louis  XV. 

Up  to  this  time  it  was  supposed  that  large  ships 
could  not  cross  the  bar,  at  the  river's  mouth,  but  upon 
sounding  the  channel,  enough  water  was  found  to  float 
one  of  the  company's  ships,  which  then  sailed  up  to 
New  Orleans.  From  this  day,  the  river  may  be  said 
to  have  been  fairly  open  to  commerce  with  the  outside 
world.  As  respects  the  passage  up  and  down,  it  had 
practically  become  an  every-day  excursion  for  the  Ca- 
nadian voyageurs  who,  with  the  Indians,  had  so  long- 


FRANCE   WINS   THE   PRIZE.  120 

formed  its  floating  population.  These  adventurers  now 
drew  up  their  canoes,  along  the  bank,  at  New  Orleans, 
whose  promiscuous  assemblage  of  Indians,  habitants, 
convicts,  soldiers  and  priests,  they  joined. 

Father  Charlevoix,  the  historian  of  New  France,  thus 
describes  New  Orleans  as  he  saw  it  in  1721 :  — 

"  The  most  just  idea  I  can  give  you  is  to  imagine  two  hundred 
persons  who  have  been  sent  to  build  a  city,  and  who  are  encamped 
on  its  banks.  This  city  is  the  first  which  one  of  the  greatest  rivers 


NEW   ORLKANS,  1719. 

of  th«  world  has  seen  rise  on  its  borders.  It  is  composed  of  a  hun- 
dred barracks  placed  without  much  order,  a  large  storehouse  built 
of  wood,  two  or  three  houses  which  would  not  adorn  a  poor  village 
in  France,  and  part  of  a  wretched  barrack  which  they  have  been 
willing  to  lend  the  Lord,  for  his  service,  and  of  which  He  had 
scarcely  taken  possession  when  He  was  thrust  out  and  made  to 
take  shelter  under  a  tent." 

In  the  cluster  of  French  names,  —  Louisiana,  New 
Orleans,  Ponchartrain,  Iberville  and  Maurepas,  —  the 
great  personages  who  bore  a  conspicuous  part  in  the 
founding  of  Louisiana  are  fittingly  perpetuated. 

From  Quebec  to  New  Orleans,  from  the  St.  Lawrence 


130 


FRANCE    WINS   THE    PRIZE. 


to  the  Gulf,  a  line  of  posts,  half-military,  half-religious, 
had  sprung  up  in  La  Salle's  footsteps.  France  had  won 
the  prize. 


1  BIENVILLE,  from  his  long  and  use- 
ful association  with  the  province,  was 
called  the  "  Father  of  Louisiana." 

2  NATCHITOCHES  became  an  impor- 
tant strategic  point  with  reference  to  the 
Spaniards    in  Texas,  who  had  founded 
missions  at  San  Antonio  and  a  post  at 
Nacodoches. 

3  "CouREURS    DE    Bois,  or  Wood 
Rangers,  are   French  or  Canadese,  so 
called   from  employing  their  whole  life 
in  the   rough  exercise  of    transporting 
merchandise     goods     to    the    lakes    of 
Canada  and  to  all  the  other  countries  of 
Jhat  continent  in  order  to  trade  with  the 
savages.    And  in  regard  that  they  run 
In  canoes  a  thousand    leagues   up   the 
country,  notwithstanding  the  danger  of 
the    sea   and    enemies,    I  take  it  they 
should  rather  be  called  Runners  of  Risks 
than  Runners  of  the  Woods.*'  —  Baron 
la  Hontan. 

*  JOHN  LAW  of  Edinburgh  was  made 
comptroller-general  of  the  finances  of 
France,  upon  the  strength  of  a  scheme 
for  establishing  a  bank,  and  an  East 
India  and  Mississippi  Company,  by  the 
profits  of  which  the  national  debt  of 


Fiance  was  to  he  paid  off.  In  1716  he 
opened  his  bank,  and  the  deluded  of 
every  rank  subscribed  for  shares  both  in 
the  bank  and  company.  A.  de  Pontmar- 
tin  calls  it  the  "idolatry  of  the  golden 
calf."  Voltaire  relates  that  he  had  seen 
Law  come  to  court  with  dukes,  mar- 
shals and  bishops  in  his  train.  The 
imaginary  riches  of  Louisiana  furnished 
the  basis  for  the  scheme.  At  first  the 
shares  went  up.  In  1720  the  inflated 
bubble  exploded,  spreading  ruin  every- 
where. Law  himself  died  in  poverty. 
It  infused  a  spasm  of  prosperity  in  Loui 
siana,  soon  to  be  followed  by  reaction 
which  brought  every  thing  to  a  stand- 
still. Consult  any  good  encyclopaedia. 

6  ON  THE  ARKANSAS,  but  very  soon 
removed  lower  down  the  river.  These 
Germans  were  pioneers  of  free  labor  in 
Louisiana.  They  became  the  market  gar- 
deners for  New  Orleans. 

«  SLAVERY.  Negro  slavery  was 
then  established  in  the  Spanish  and 
English  American  colonies. 

»  NEW  ORLEANS  was  regularly  laid 
out  in  1720.  It  was  protected  from  inun- 
dation by  an  embankment  called  a  levee. 


LOUIS  XIV. 

Louis  XIV.  was  not  only,  as  Richelieu,  powerful,  but 
he  was  majestic ;  not  only,  as  Cromwell,  great,  but  in  him 
was  serenity.  Louis  XIV.  was  not,  perhaps,  genius  in 
the  master,  but  genius  surrounded  him.  This  may  les- 
sen a  king  in  the  eyes  of  some,  but  it  adds  to  the  glory 
of  his  reign.  As  for  me,  as  you  already  know,  I  love  that 
which  is  absolute,  which  is  perfect ;  and  therefore  have 


LOUIS   XIV.  131 

always  a  profound  respect  for  this  grave  and  worthy 
prince,  so  well-born,  so  much  loved,  and  so  well-sur- 
rounded;  a  king  in  his  cradle,  a  king  in  the  tomb;  true 
sovereign  in  every  acceptation  of  the  word;  central 
monarch  of  civilization;  pivot  of  all  Europe,  seeing,  so 
to  speak,  from  tour  to  tour,  eight  popes,  five  sultans, 
three  emperors,  two  kings  in  Spain,  three  kings  of  Por- 
tugal, four  kings  and  one  queen  of  England,  three  kings 
of  Denmark,  one  queen  and  two  kings  of  Sweden,  four 
kings  of  Poland,  and  four  czars  of  Muscovy  appear, 
shine  forth  and  disappear  around  his  throne;  polar  star 
of  an  entire  age,  who,  during  seventy-two  years,  saw  all 
the  constellations  majestically  perform  their  evolutions 
round  him.  —  V.  HUGO,  The  Rhine. 


m. 

THE    ENGLISH. 


THE   BLEAK   NORTH-WEST  COAST. 

"  War  with  the  world  and  peace  with  England."  —  Spanish. 

WE  should  expect  to  find  a  race  of  sailors  pushing 
discovery  on  their  own  element. 

With  English  mariners  of  the  seventeenth  century, 
the  belief  in  a  North-west  Passage  to  India  was  an  in- 
herited faith.  Cabot  led  discovery  in  this  direction. 
It  became,  almost  exclusively,  a  field  for  the  brave  and 
adventurous  of  this  nation  who,  from  year  to  year, 
spreading  their  tattered  sails  to  the  frozen  blasts  of  the 
Polar  Sea,  grimly  fought  their  way  on  from  cape  to 
headland,  in  desperate  venture,  lured  by  the  vain  hope 
of  finding  the  open  waters  of  their  dreams  lying  just 
beyond  them.  It  is  a  story  of  daring  and  peril  unsur- 
passed. Many  a  noble  ship  and  gallant  crew  have  gone 
down  while  attempting  to  solve  those  mysteries  which 
the  hand  of  God  would  seem  forever  to  have  sealed  up 
from  the  knowledge  of  man. 

Among  others  the  brave  and  ill-fated  Henry  Hud- 
son,1 in  1610,  sailed  through  the  straits  leading  into  the 
bay  now  bearing  his  name,  where  his  mutinous  crew 
wickedly  abandoned  him  to  die  of  cold  or  hunger,  or 
both. 

132 


THE   BLEAK   NORTH-WEST   COAST. 


133 


Afterward,  Hudson's  Bay  was  repeatedly  visited  by 
English  navigators  whose  .discoveries  all  went  to  con- 
firm the  prevailing  belief  in  an  open  polar  sea.  One 
of  them  even  took  a  letter  from  his  own  king  for  the 
Emperor  of  Japan.  In  view  of  the  suffering  to  which 
all  were  alike  subject,  these  "frost-biting  voyages" 
might  be  said  to  show  more  heroism  than  sound  practi- 
cal wisdom,  yet  with  the  riches  of  the  Indies  spread  out 
before  their  fancy,  and  all  England  to  applaud  their 
deeds,  the  best  of  England's  sailors  were  always  ready 
to  peril  life 
and  limb  for 
the  prize.  All 
who  came 
back  told  the 
same  tale,  — 
of  seas  sheet- 
ed in  ice,  suns 
that  never 
set,  lands 
where  noth- 
inggrew,cold 

so  extreme  that  all  nature  seemed  but  a  mockery  of  the 
all-wise  design  of  the  Creator  Himself. 

Sir  Thomas  Button  followed  up  Hudson's  discoveries 
in  1612.  He  wintered  at  the  mouth  of  Nelson's  River, 
so  named  by  him,  after  finding  farther  progress  to  the 
westward  barred  by  the  coast,  where  he  had  hoped  to 
find  it  opening  before  him. 

It  was  soon  found  that  the  bleak  and  desolate  region 
enclosing  Hudson's  Bay  was  rich  in  fur-bearing  animals, 
whose  skins  bore  a  great  price  in  Europe,  and  the  re- 
ports brought  back  from  that  far-off  land  gave  a  certain 


ABANDONED   11UT,   NORTHWEST   COAST. 


134  THE   BLEAK   NORTH- WEST   COAST. 

Frenchman  named  Grosselier  the  idea  of  planting  a 
fur-trading  colony  there.  He  at  once  went  to  the  min- 
ister with  his  plan.  The  minister,  however,  would  not 
listen  to  him.  Grosselier  then  went  to  Prince  Rupert,2 
who  was  staying  at  Paris,  to  ask  for  the  aid  he  wanted. 
Struck  with  the  scheme,  the  prince  became  its  patron. 
A  ship  was  sent  out,  with  Grosselier,  in  1668,  which 
reached  the  head  of  James'  Bay,3  where  Fort  Charles 
was  built.  The  next  year,  Prince  Rupert,  and  seven- 
teen others,  were  incorporated  into  a  company,  with 
power  granted  them  to  make  settlements  and  carry  on 
trade  in  Hudson's  Bay. 

In  this  way  the  since  famous  Hudson's  Bay  Com- 
pany obtained  a  monopoly  of  the  fur-trade  of  all  that 
region,  which  afterward  proved  so  valuable  to  it.  Its 
powers  were  most  ample.  It  could  hold  and  convey 
land,  fit  out  ships',  erect  forts,  or  make  war  with  the 
peoples  of  that  country,  but  all  this  was  to  be  done  in 
its  character  as  a  trading-company ;  and  though  it  had  a 
resident  governor,  the  central  authority  was  kept  in  the 
company,  in  London,  who  continued  to  direct  its  affairs. 

In  the  earlier  years  of  its  existence  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company  had  a  hard  struggle  for  life.  We  know 
that  French  traders  formerly  had  dealings  with  the 
natives  of  that  dreary  inland  sea.  Jealousy  now 
prompted  them  to  try  to  drive  the  English  thence  by 
force,  and  so  get  rid  of  their  rivalry.  To  this  end  re- 
peated attacks  were  made  upon  the  English  factories,4 
which  were  taken  and  retaken,  first  by  one  and  then  by 
another  assailant.  Even  in  time  of  peace  the  French 
had  not  scrupled  to  assault  these  remote  posts,  so  un- 
willing were  Canadians  to  see  the  English  gain  a  foot- 
hold in  that  quarter. 


THE   BLEAK   NORTH-WEST   COAST. 


135 


These  invasions  were  quieted  at  last  by  the  treaty  of 
Utrecht  (1713),  which  left  the  English  in  possession 
of  what  they  had  battled  with  foes  of  every  sort  to 
secure  for  themselves. 

Communication  had  with  the  natives,  who  were 
nomads,  taught  the  English  how  to  make  distant  jour- 


HUDSON'S  BAT  COMPANY'S  IIOC8B,  LONDON. 

neys,  and  gradually,  with  their  aid,  to  penetrate  farther 
and  farther  into  the  interior.  But  to  live  in  the  country 
at  all,  they  had,  in  a  great  measure,  to  adapt  themselves 
to  the  natives'  way  of  life,  and  to  make  journeys  they  had 
to  adopt  the  rude  conveyances  found  in  use  among  them. 


1  HENRY  HUDSON.  The  same  who 
discovered  and  named  Hudson  River  of 
New  York. 

1  PRINCE  RUPERT,  of  Bavaria,  com- 
manded the  cavalr3>  of  Charles  I.  during 
theCivi  1  War  (1642) :  after  the  Restoration 
he  devoted  himself  to  scientific  pursuit*. 


»  JAMES'  BAY.  Like  Davis,  Baffin, 
Hudson,  etc.,  the  name  is  that  of  an 
arctic  navigator.  It  opens  at  the  bot- 
tom of  Hudson's  Bay. 

4  THE  ENGLISH  FACTORIES,  at  that 
time,  were  Forte  Nelson,  Albany,  Hayes 
and  Uupert. 


136          HUDSON'S  BAY  TO  THE  SOUTH  SEA. 

HUDSON'S  BAY  TO  THE  SOUTH  SEA. 

"  Many  a  shoal  marks  this  stern  coast." 

THE  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  grant  was  meant  to 
promote  the  discovery  of  a  North-west  Passage  to  India: 
so  the  people  of  England,  in  giving  away  such  large 
privileges,  expected  this  would  be  done  without  delay. 

But  the  company,  at  first,  made  little  or  no  effort  in 
this  direction.  It  was  chiefly  occupied  with  making 
money,  and  making  it  from  the  start.  Hence  every 
thing  was  made  to  work  to  that  end. 

England  did  not  know  what  she  was  doing  when  she 
created  this  monopoly.  Ignorance  led  to  delusion,  and 
delusion  to  the  inconsiderate  granting  away  of  an  em- 
pire. It  was  thought  the  company  would  explore  and 
settle  its  grant,  and  thus  England  would  reap  the  bene 
fits  without  spending  a  penny.  The  company,  on  the 
other  hand,  meant  to  do  nothing  of  the  sort,  unless 
driven  to  it  by  popular  clamor.  Then  it  would  do  as 
little  as  it  could.  Colonization  was  fatal  to  the  fur- 
trade,  and  the  company  was  an  association  of  fur-traders, 

nothing  else. 
Hence,  given 
a  warehouse 
in  London,  a 
ship  to  carry 

HUDSON'S  BAY  SLED,  LOADED.       /^^  i          i       i 

goods      back 

and  forth,  a  port  and  factory  at  Hudson's  Bay,  a  score 
or  more  of  trading-posts  scattered  here  and  there  over 
a  vast  extent  of  territory,  to  which  the  hunters  could 
bring  furs  and  get  goods  at  the  company's  price,  and 
we  have,  briefly  told,  the  whole  machinery  of  this  giant 


HUDSON'S  BAY  TO  THE  SOUTH  SEA.          137 

monopoly.  In  dealing  with  the  outside  world  it  pur- 
sued a  policy  of  Spanish  exclusion  and  silence.  It  was 
not  making  history,  but  money. 

Yet  the  company  was  all  the  time  building  better 
than  it  knew,  for  even  the  coming  and  going  of  its  own 
traders  gradually  enlarged  geographical  knowledge  of 
the  country,  so  smoothing  the  way  for  the  future. 

From  time  to  time  the  natives  who  came  to  the  fac- 
tories showed  specimens  of  copper  ore,  which  they  said 
came  from  the  Far  Off  Metal  River  of  the  North.  The 
English  traders  consequently  named  it  the  Coppermine. 
It  became  an  object  with  them  to  find  the  mine,  or 
mines,  whence  these  specimens  had  been  taken.  The 
governor  accordingly  (1769)  sent  one  of  his  most  trusty 
men  into  the  unknown  wilderness  in  search  of  them. 

Taking  with  him  some  Indian  guides,  and  living  as 
they  lived,  that  is  to  say  one  day  fasting  and  the  next 
feasting,  as  game  was  found  plenty  or  scarce,  Samuel 
Hearne  only  succeeded  in  getting  to  the  Coppermine 
after  making  three  attempts  to  do  so.  His  story  is  a 
wondrous  record  of  persevering  endurance.  He  found 
the  sacred  character  of  the  calumet  everywhere  ac- 
knowledged, even  by  the  most  degraded  .tribes.  When 
they  had  once  smoked  together  the  stranger  was  as  safe 
from  injury  or  insult  as  in  his  own  house,  though 
nothing  could  exceed  the  curiosity  which  his  white  skin, 
blue  eyes  and  light  hair,  all  so  different  from  their  own, 
caused  among  the  Indians  he  met  in  his  journey. 

The  Coppermine  was  found  to  run  into  the  Arctic 
Ocean,  instead  of  Hudson's  Bay,  as  Hearne  supposed  it 
did  when  he  first  set  out,  but  no  copper  could  be  dis- 
covered worth  the  taking  of  such  a  journey  to  look  for, 
as  his.  Hearne  came  back  (1772)  at  the  end  of  a  yeai 


188          HUDSON'S  BAY  TO  THE  SOUTH  SEA. 

and  a  half,  having  established  the  shore  line  of  the 
lorthern  ocean  at  a  point  where  land  only  was  supposed 
to  be.  This  was  considered  a  great  geographical  dis- 
covery. Thus,  year  by  year,  a  little  was  added  here 
and  a  little  there  toward  completing  an  accurate  map 
of  the  north  coast  line. 

In  1789,  a  Scotch  trader,  named  Alexander  Mac- 
kenzie, had  been  living  for  eight  years  past  at  Fort 
Chipewyan.1  This  was  a  station  nearly  central  between 
Hudson's  Bay  and  the  Pacific.  Mackenzie  was  an  ex- 
plorer by  instinct.  He  determined  to  cross  the  conti- 
nent. Once  he  had  made  up  his  mind,  no  thought  of 
hardship  could  deter  him.  His .  course  through  the 
Slave  River  and  lakes  led  him  to  the  river  now  bear- 
ing his  own  name, — the  Mackenzie  River.  Down  this 
stream  the  intrepid  traveller  floated  in  his  frail  canoe,  to 
its  outlet  upon  the  frozen  Arctic  Sea. 

During  his  trip,  Mackenzie  questioned  the  Indians  of 
this  river  about  the  unknown  country  lying  beyond  the 
great  western  wall  of  mountains,  but  found  they  could 
tell  him  little  except  that  the  people  of  that  country 
were  so  exceeding  fierce  no  stranger  durst  go  among 
them.  But  Mackenzie  knew  the  Pacific  was  there,  and 
meant  to  reach  it. 

He  first  moved  up  from  Fort  Chipewyan  to  the  east 
foot  of  the  mountains,  so  as  to  get  a  better  start.  He 
wintered  here.  In  the  spring  (1793),  he  was  ready  to 
set  out  again.  One  large,  strong  canoe,  which  held  all 
the  provisions,  and  which  two  men  could  carry  with 
ease,  enabled  the  travellers  to  work  their  slow  and  toil- 
some way  up  the  swollen  mountain  torrents  into  the 
highest  defiles,  from  which  they  sprung.  As  the  ex- 
plorers advanced,  the  stream  they  were  ascending  be- 


HUDSON'S  BAY  TO  THE  SOUTH  SEA.          139 

came  more  and  more  choked  up  with  rocks  or  fallen 
trees,  and  more  and  more  broken  by  cascades  and 
rapids.  It  was  often  necessary  to  carry  the  canoe 
round  or  drag  it  over  these  obstructions,  though  at  the 
cost  of  such  toil  that  the  men  grew  disheartened  and 
wished  to  turn  back,  thinking  the  task  a  hopeless  one. 
Unsparing  of  himself,  Mackenzie  put  courage  into  the 
downhearted,  and  after  a  short  rest  all 
were  ready  to  go  on  again. 

Falling,  at  length,  among  the  Indians 
who  dwelt  among- the  mountains,  Mac- 
kenzie found  that  the  rest  of  the  journey 
would  be  much  shortened  by  leaving 
his  canoes  and  proceeding  by  land.  He 
therefore  continued  his  way  by  land,  INDIAN  MASK,  WEST 
constantly  meeting  with  natives  who 
lived  sumptuously  on  the  salmon  that  the  streams 
everywhere  produced  in  great  abundance  and  perfec- 
tion. Mackenzie  soon  found  he  had  nothing  to  fear 
from  these  people.  They  fed  and  sheltered  his  men  in 
their  villages,  and  willingly  helped  him  on  his  way. 
The  fatigues  and  anxieties  of  the  journey  were  nearly 
past,  for  on  the  23d  of  July,  1793,  the  party  of  white 
men  arrived  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  near 
the  Straits  of  Fuca. 

Although,  in  relating  the  adventures  of  Mackenzie, 
we  have  gone  somewhat  before  our  story,  the  doing  so 
is  essential  to  its  design,  as  subsequent  chapters  will 
show. 

1  FORT  CHIPEWYAN  was  at  the  foot  of  ATHABASCA  LAKE,  midway  between  the 
mountains  and  Hudson's  Bay. 


140 


THE   RUSSIANS    IN    ALASKA. 


THE    RUSSIANS   IN   ALASKA. 

"  Heaven  is  high  and  the  Czar  distant-" 

REFERRING  to  what  Drake  had  done  for  England, 
and  De  Fuca  for  Spain,  the  one  tacking  a  name  to  the 
coast  here,  the  other  there,  we  find  little  for  more  than 
a  century  going  to  show  that  Europeans  thought  the 
discoveries  of  either  worth  following  up. 

What  do  we  then  see  ?  Not  Spain,  not  England  put- 
ting forth  a  steady  hand  to  grasp  the  prize  each  al- 
ready claimed  as  its  own,  but  a  new  power,  coming  not 

from  the  East, 
but  from  the 
West.  It  is  a 
power  hardly 
known  in  Eu- 
rope. It  is 
Russia. 

The  Czar 
Peter,  Peter 
the  Great  in 
history,  de- 
termined to  know  whether  the  two  grand  continents, 
Asia  and  America,  were  joined  in  one,  or  separated  by  a 
northern  ocean.  Peter  died  before  the  orders  given  for 
this  purpose  could  be  carried  out,  but  Catherine,  his 
empress  and  successor,  sent  Captain  Behring  1  of  the 
royal  navy  to  execute  them. 

Sailing  from  Kamschatka  (1728),  Behring  followed 
the  coast  of  Asia  round  to  the  north-west,  finding  open 
water  everywhere,  and  so  determining  the  separation  of 
the  continents.  In  a  second  voyage  (1741)  he  put  out 


SEALS,   ST.    PAUL'S   ISLAND. 


THE   RUSSIANS    IN    ALASKA. 


141 


to  sea,  this  time  falling  in  with  the  American  coast,  dis- 
covering Mt.  St.  Elias  and  the  Aleutian  archipelago. 

During  this  voyage  Behring's  vessel  was  thrown 
upon  an  island  and  wrecked,  and  he  himself  died  miser- 
ably there,  but  some  of  his  sailors  built  themselves  a 
vessel  out  of  the  wreck,  in  which  they  succeeded  in  get- 
ting back  to  Kamschatka,  bringing  with  them  the  furs  of 
the  sea-otters  and  foxes  they 
had  killed  and  eaten  while 
living  upon  the  desert  island. 

From  the 
time  of  these 
discoveries, 
Russian  adven- 
ture r  s,  who 
were  little  bet- 
ter than  daring  "" 
freebooters,  i!", 
crossed  over 
the  narrow  seas 
to  the  Aleutian 

Isles,  to  kill  the  sea-otters  for  their  fur,  thus  opening 
between  them  and  Ochotsk,  and  between  Ochotsk  and 
the  Chinese  frontier,  next  Siberia,  by  means  of  cara- 
vans, a  trade  in  the  valuable  furs  for  which  these  islands 
are  so  famous. 

In  tinte,  these  roving  traders  were  followed  by'  a  few 
actual  colonists,  who  were  brought  over  from  Siberia  or 
Kamschatka  to  aid  in  establishing  permanent  trading- 
posts2  at  suitable  points.  But  the  country  possessed  no 
other  resources  except  its  fur-trade.  The  early  traders 
had  cruelly  oppressed  the  natives,  hence  the  first  colo- 
nists were  looked  upon  as  enemies,  and  treated  as  such 


RUSSIAN   CHURCH,  ALASKA. 


J42  THE   RUSSIANS    IN   ALASKA. 

by  them.  Some  missionaries  of  the  Greek  Church  were 
also  sent  over  to  care  for  the  souls  of  these  poor  people, 
who  before  had  no  knowledge  of  Christianity. 

There  were  no  elements  of  thrift  in  this  colony,  con- 
sequently it  could  never  make  healthy  progress.  At 
best  the  people  were  little  better  than  vassals,  while  the 
Indians  were  hardly  more  than  slaves.  The  land  is  too 
cold  for  agriculture.  The  people  have  but  one  occupa- 
tion, that  of  seal-hunting. 

The  fur-trade  was  at  first  conducted  by  private  per- 
sons, but  eventually  the  control  passed  to  one  large 
company,  sanctioned  by  the  crown  under  the  form  of 
The  Russian  American  Company,  with  headquarters 
first  at  Kodiak  and  then  at  Sitka.3 

This  company  claimed  the  whole  coast  of  America, 
on  the  Pacific,  with  the  adjacent  islands,  from  Behring 
Straits  southward  to,  and  beyond,  the  mouth  of  the 
Columbia  River. 


STRAITS,  and  Sea,  take  with  the  three  thousand  miles  oeparatiBg 

their  name  from  this  navigator,  —  Vitus  America  from  Europe. 
Behring,  or  Bering.      According    to  a  2  PERMANENT  TRADING-POSTS  were 

map  published  by  the  Imperial  Academy  begun  on  Oonalaska  about  1773,  and  Ko- 

of  St.  Petersburg,  Behring  touched  his  diak  1783.    In  1789  there  were  eight  of 

farthest   southerly   point  on    our  coast  these  posts,  with  two  hundred  and  fifty 

closely   under    the  sixtieth   parallel,  at  Russians.      A    Russian    post  was    also 

what  is  called,  on  some  maps,  Admiralty  established    at    St.    Michael's,    Norton 

or  Behring's  Bay.     His  consort  Tchiri-  Sound. 

kow's  track  is  extended  to  55°  36'.    In  s  SITKA  was  founded  to  check  the 

the  narrowest  part  of  Behring's  Straits  it  encroachments    of    the    Hudson's    Bay 

is  only   thirty-six    miles  from   Asia  to  Company.    Alaska   was  pu'rchased    by 

America,  showing  how  slight  were  the  the  United    States  in   1867,  during    the 

obstacles  to  communication,  as  compared  presidency  of  Andrew  Johnson. 


ENGLAND   ON    THE   PACIFIC.  143 

ENGLAND  ON   THE   PACIFIC. 

"  Ye  mariners  of  England  I  "  —  Campbell. 

ENGLAND'S  conquest  of  Canada l  (1763)  put  a  wholly 
new  face  upon  the  situation  in  America.  She  was  now, 
beyond  dispute,  the  foremost  power  of  this  continent. 

Hardly  had  the  echoes  of  this  conflict  died  away, 
when  a  new  power  arose  to  contend  with  England  for 
what  she  had  just  torn  from  the  grasp  of  France.  This 
was  her  own  American  colonies,  whose  people  had  now 
been  driven  to  take  up  arms  (1775)  against  the  mother 
country,  in  defence  of  their  dearest  political  rights.  So 
England  gained  Canada,  but  lost  her  own  colonies. 
She  wrested  power  from  France,  only  to  see  it  snatched 
from  her  own  grasp  in  the  moment  of  victory,  though, 
after  all,  it  was  no  less  a  victory  for  the  English-speak- 
ing race  over  all  her  Latin-speaking  rivals.  It  must  be 
seen  that  events  like  these  would  have  far-reaching 
effects  in  shaping  our  history. 

Yet  while  the  conflict  with  her  colonies  was  going  on, 
and  both  parties  were  in  the  thick  of  the  actual  fight- 
ing, England  was  putting  forth  efforts  to  control  the 
roumierce  of  the  North-west  Coast. 

For  this  purpose  it  would  be  essential  to  have  accu- 
rate surveys  of  all  important  harbors  and  sounds,  in 
order  to  select  sites  for  future  settlements,  and  above 
all  of  any  navigable  rivers  flowing  from  the  east  out 
upon  the  coast,  that  might  afford  a  practicable  route 
into  the  interior,  and  so  connect  this  coast  with  the 
settlements  of  the  Hudson's  Bay  Company. 

With  this  end  in  view,  two  discovery  ships  were  sent 
out  (1776),  in  command  of  Captain  James  Cook,2  with 


144 


ENGLAND   ON   THE    PACIFIC. 


SNOW  SPECTACLES,  ALASKA. 


orders  to  search  the  coast  of  New  Albion  for  any  navi- 
gable river  north  of  the  forty-fifth  parallel.  England 
clearly  meant  to  re-assert  her  claim  to  sovereignty,3  set 
up  so  long  ago  in  her  behalf  by  Sir  Francis  Drake. 

On  board  Cook's  ship  were  two  persons  with  whom 
our  story  will  have  to  deal.  One  was  Midshipman 
Vancouver,  the  other  Corporal  Ledyard  of  the  marines. 

Cook  first  dis- 
covered and  named 
the  Sandwich  Isl- 
ands.4 Shaping  his 
course  thence  for 
the  American  coast,  he  fell  in  with  (1778)  and  named 
Cape  Flattery.6  Steering  now  northward  with  the  coast 
always  in  sight,  Cook  at  length  found  a  broad  basin, 
which  the  Indians  called  Nootka,  and  which  has  since 
been  known  as  Nootka  Sound.6  The  ships  lay 
here  all  the  month  of  April,  refitting,  and  get- 
ting ready  for  the  coming  cruise  in  the  arctic 
seas,  which  Cook  was  instructed  to  explore  for 
the  wished-for  passage  into  Hudson's  Bay. 

Except  for  their  propensity  to  steal,  which 
nothing  could  control,  Cook  found  the  natives 
of  Nootka  a  friendly  people,  though  they  were 
no  longer  abashed  in  the  presence  of  white  men, 
or  afraid  of  their  loud-roaring  cannon,  as  in 
the  time  of  Drake.  Many  wore  brass  or  silver 
trinkets.  Most  of  them  had  tools  of  iron  which 
they  had  made  for  themselves,  and  could  use 
with  skill.  Passing  ships  would  therefore  seem  c^™** 
to  have  brought  these  tribes  into  unfrequent 
communication  with  Europeans,  so  that  Cook's  coming 
neither  surprised  nor  intimidated  them  ;  while  the  arti- 


ENGLAND   ON  THE  PACIFIC. 


145 


cles  in  their  possession  acquainted  him  with  the  fact 
;hat  other  navigators  had  passed  that  way  before  him, 
perhaps  with  views  similar  to  his  own. 

Upon  again  setting  sail,  Cook  was  blown  off  the  coast 
by  contrary  winds.  When  he  again  saw  it,  he  was  far 
to  the  north  of  Nootka.  He  saw  and  named  Mt.  Edge- 
cumbe  as  he  sailed ;  then  Mt.  St.  Elias  rose  in  solitary 
grandeur  before  them,  giving  Cook  notice  that  he  was 
now  crossing  the  track  of  the  Russian  discoverers. 

The  ships  continued  to  skirt 
the  coast  until   its  westward 
trend  forced  them  to  put  about, 
and  steer  south-west,  along  the 
shores  of  the  Alaskan  penin- 
sula.     Cook  had  missed  both 
the   Columbia  River  and  the 
Straits    of    Fuca,    thus 
losing   his   one    chance 
for  making  known  to  the 
world   the   great  water 
systems    of    the    north 
Pacific. 

Getting  clear  of  Alas- 
ka, Cook  came  to  Oonalaska,  of  the  Aleutian  group, 
which  he  doubled.  Then,  finding  the  coast  beyond  him 
to  bend  in  the  desired  direction,  again  he  sailed  on 
through  Behring's  Straits  into  the  Arctic  Ocean  as  far 
as  Icy  Cape  (70°  29'),  at  which  point  his  ships  were 
stopped  by  ice.  Finding  he  could  go  no  farther,  he  put 
about  and  returned  to  Oonalaska,  where,  in  October, 
he  anchored. 

From  this  anchorage  Corporal  Ledyard  was  sent  on 
shore  in  search  of  the  Russian  traders,  then  known  to 


INDIAN   GRAVE,   NORTH-WEST  COAST. 


146  ENGLAND   ON   THE   PACIFIC. 

be  living  on  the  island,  whom  he  found,  and  brought 
back  with  him  to  the  ships.  Getting  little  from  these 
people,  for  want  of  interpreters,  Cook  sailed  back  to 
the  Sandwich  Islands,  where  the  natives  of  Owyhee 
treacherously  killed  him  while  he  was  on  shore. 

The  furs  which  Cook's  sailors  obtained  from  the 
natives  of  Nootka,  in  exchange  for  knives,  buttons  and 
other  trifles,  were  sold  at  Canton,  China,  for  more  than 
ten  thousand  dollars.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a 
trade  between  Nootka  and  Canton,  which,  during  the 
next  decade,  was  the  means  of  bringing  many  British 
vessels  to  the  North-west  Coast. 

It  is  instructive  to  remember  that,  at  the  very  time 
when  the  American  colonies  were  throwing  off  their 
allegiance,  Cook  was  quietly  exploring  the  North-west 
Coast,  in  the  interests  of  peaceful  expansion,  which,  in 
the  end,  was  to  inure  to  the  benefit  of  those  colonies. 

1  CONQUEST  op   CANADA    was   the       Hector  and  Bodega  1775,  in  Bancroft.) 
result    of    the  Seven    Years'    War    iu        The  Spaniards  knew  the  value  of  the  fur 
Europe.    Nearly  all   the  powers  were        seal  in  commerce. 

involved  in  it.    When  peace  was  made,  *  SANDWICH  ISLANDS,  so  named  for 

all  that  France  held  east  of  the   Missis-  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  then  first  lord  of 

sippi  River,    under  the  names  Louisi-  the  Admiralty. 

ana  or  Canada,  except  New  Orleans,  was  5  CAPE  FLATTERY,  on  the  mainland, 

given  up  to  England.      New  Orleans,  at  the  south  entrance  to  the  Straits  of 

with  all  that  France  claimed  west  of  the  Fuca,  and  landmark  of  those  straits. 
Mississippi,  had  already  (1762)  been  pri-  «  NOOTKA  SOUND,  Vancouver  Island, 

vately  ceded  by  France  to  Spain.  Taken    possession   of   by  Spain,    1789. 

2  JAMES  COOK  entered  the  navy  as  a  The  English  navigators   Cook,  Meares 
cabin  boy.    He  stood  at  the  head  of  Eng-  and  Vancouver,  being  unable  to  find  an- 
lish  navigators  since  Drake.    The  gov-  other  good  harbor  between  Cape  Mendo- 
ernment  kept  his  discoveries  secret  till  cino  and  Cape  Flattery,  hit  upon  Nootka 
after  the    close   of    the  war.    To  their  as  possessing  the  requirements  of  a  port 
honor,  all  the  belligerents  gave  orders  for  their  nation.    Upon  this  a  quarrel 
that  he  should  not  be  molested  by  their  arose  with  Spain,  which  claimed  Nootka 
forces.  in  virtue  of  prior  discovery.    In  the  end 

3  HER  CLAIM  TO  SOVEREIGNTY.    It  Spain  was  obliged  to  relinquish  Nootka 
was  known    in   England,  before   Cook  to  England.    VANCOUVER,  who  gave  his 
sailed,    that   Spanish    navigators   were  name  to  the  large  island  to  which  Nootka 
again  working  their  way  up  the  coast.  Sound  belongs,  reached  the  coast  April, 
(See  voyages  of  Juan  Perez  1774,  Bruno  1792,  near  Cape  Mendociiio,  but  strangely 


ENGLAND   ON   THE  PACIFIC.  147 


Hie  Columbia  River,  though  he  blown     off     the     coast.    His     passage 

carefully  looked  for  aiiy  opening  iu  the  through  the  Straits  of  Fuca  had  been  an- 

couHt  line,  which  he  declared  to   be  un-  ticipated  by  Captain  Kendrick,  of  the 

broken  from  Mendocino   to  Cape  Flat-  American  sloop  "  Washington,"  in  1790, 

tery.    Vancouver's  surveys  were  to  fill  thus  first  verifying    the    long-disputed 

the  gap  left  open  by  Cook  when  he  was  fact  of  the  existence  of  those  straits. 


QUEEN   ELIZABETH. 

THOUGH  Elizabeth  was  so  well  calculated  to  govern 
with  ability,  and  even  with  that  glory  and  advantage 
to  her  people  which  England  had  never  witnessed 
under  any  of  its  preceding  sovereigns ;  —  though  her 
administration  was  so  vigorously  and  equitably  exer- 
cised, and  all  her  plans  and  negotiations  so  ably  and 
successfully  conducted  ;  —  though,  in  short,  she  was 
equally  revered  and  obeyed,  as  a  sovereign,  at  home, 
and  she  was  feared  and  respected  abroad ;  —  yet  was 
Elizabeth  a  very  weak  and  silly  woman  in  trifling  con- 
cerns. She  seemed  a  Goliath  in  the  conduct  of  the 
mighty  affairs  of  empires ;  but  dwindled  into  a  very 
woman,  when  the  color,  fancy,  or  fashion  of  a  dress 
became  the  topic.  Nor  was  she  free  from  the  little 
petty  vexations,  jealousies,  and  rivalship  of  beauty,  so 
natural  to  her  sex.  Indeed,  it  appears  that  she  hated 
and  envied  her  cousin,  the  beautiful  Mary  of  Scots, 
less  on  account  of  her  pretensions  to  the  crown,  than 
for  her  superior  charms.  When  Mary  sent  Sir  James 
Melville  to  London,  to  endeavor  to  establish  a  good 
understanding  with  Elizabeth,  he  was  instructed  by 
Mary  to  sound  her  cousin  on  subjects  that  would  inter- 
est her  rather  as  a  woman  than  a  queen.  "  He  accord- 
ingly succeeded  so  well,"  says  Hume,  "  that  he  threw 
that  artful  princess  entirely  off  her  guard,  and  made 


148 


QUEEN   ELIZABETH. 


her  discover  the  bottom  of  her  heart,  full  of  those 
vanities,  and  follies,  and  ideas  of  rivalship,  which  pos- 
sess the  youngest  and  most  frivolous  of  her  sex.  He 
talked  to  her  of  his  travels,  and  forgot  not  to  mention 

the  differ- 
ent dresses 
of  the  la- 
dies  in  dif- 
ferentcoun- 
tries ;  and 
she  took 
care  thence- 
forth  to 
meet  the 
ambassador 
every  day 
apparelled 
in  a  differ- 
ent habit ; 
sometimes 
she  was 
dressed  in 
the  English 
garb,  some- 
times  in 
the  French, 
sometimes 
in  the  Ital- 
ian ;  and  she  asked  him  which  became  her  most  ?  He 
answered,  the  Italian,  —  a  reply  that  he  knew  would  be 
agreeable  to  her,  because  that  mode  showed  to  advan- 
tage her  flowing  hair,  which  he  remarked,  though  more 
red  than  yellow,  she  fancied  to  be  the  finest  in  the 


QUEEN   ELIZABETH. 


QTTEEN  ELIZABETH.  149 

world.  She  desired  to  know  of  him  what  was  reputed 
to  be  the  best  color  of  hair ;  she  asked  whether  his 
queen  or  she  had  the  finest  color  of  hair ;  she  even  in- 
quired which  of  them  he  esteemed  the  fairest  person, 
—  a  very  delicate  question,  and  which  he  prudently 
eluded,  by  saying  that  her  majesty  was  the  fairest 
person  in  England,  and  his  mistress  in  Scotland.  She 
next  demanded  which  of  them  was  tallest.  He  replied, 
his  queen.  '  Then  she  is  too  tall/  said  Elizabeth,  '  for  I 
myself  am  of  a  just  stature.' " 

It  is  a  saying,  that  the  greatest  heroes  are  not  so  in 
the  opinion  of  their  valets  ;  and  it  may  with  equal  truth 
be  said  of  this  celebrated  princess,  that,  however  she 
might  appear  a  great  heroine  to  the  world,  she  was  still 
nothing  more  than  a  frail  woman  in  the  eyes  of  those 
who  best  knew  her  private  and  undisguised  thoughts, 
feelings  and  actions.  —  Anon. 


INTERLUDE.-WHAT   JONATHAN    CARVER    AIMED   TO   DO 

IN   1766. 

IT  so  happened,  that  after  the  conquest  of  Canada, 
an  American,  and  veteran  of  that  war,  named  Jonathan 
Carver,  conceived  the  idea  of  crossing  the  continent  by 
way  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  tributaries  of  the  Missis- 
sippi. After  attentively  studying  the  French  maps, 
and  reading  the  accounts  of  Hennepin  and  Lahontan, 
he  believed  this  could  be  done. 

Carver's  avowed  purpose  was,  first,  to  ascertain  the 
breadth  of  the  continent.  If  successful  in  reaching 
the  Pacific,  he  meant  to  have  proposed  to  the  English 
government  the  establishment  of  a  permanent  port  on* 


150        WHAT   JONATHAN    CARVER   AIMED   TO   DO. 

that  coast.  He  was  convinced  that  this  was  the  true 
way  to  the  discovery  of  the  North-west  Passage,  which 
Drake  had  attempted  so  long  ago,  justly  reasoning  that 
it  would  be  easier  to  sail  from  the  west  than  from  the 
east,  while  the  loss  of  time  consequent  upon  the  long 
voyages  from  England,  with  the  delays  and  perils  inci- 
dent to  Arctic  navigation,  would  be  much  lessened  by 
having  such  a  de*p6t  as  he  proposed.  And  it  would  also 
greatly  facilitate  communication  between  Hudson's  Bay 
and  the  Pacific. 

Carver  thought  further,  that  a  settlement  on  that  side 
of  the  continent  would  not  only  open  up  new  sources 
of  trade,  and,  to  use  his  own  words,  also  "  promote 
many  useful  discoveries,  but  would  open  a  way  for  con- 
veying intelligence  to  China  and  the  English  settle- 
ments in  the  East  Indies  with  greater  expedition  than 
a  tedious  voyage  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  or  the 
Straits  of  Magellan,  would  allow  of." 

Whether  it  originated  in  his  own  brain  or  not,  so  far 
as  known,  Carver  was  the  first  boldly  to  set  before  the 
English  people  the  idea  of  going  across  the  American 
continent  to  India,  — the  idea  that  has  eventually  solved 
the  whole  problem. 

Convinced  that  his  undertaking  was  practicable,  Car- 
ver started  from  Michilimackinac  in  September,  1766, 
in  company  with  some  traders  who  were  going  among 
the  Sioux  by  the  old  route  leading  through  Green  Bay, 
Fox  River  and  the  Wisconsin.  What  he  could  learn 
about  the  upper  tributaries  of  the  Mississippi  seems  to 
have  determined  Carver  to  fix  his  final  starting-point 
somewhere  about  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony. 

These  falls  were  reached  on  the  17th  of  November. 
When  Carver  came  to  the  point  overlooking  them,  his 


WHAT  JONATHAN   CARVER   AIMED   TO   DO.        151 


Indian  guide  surprised  him  by  beginning  to  chant  aloud 
an  invocation  to  the  spirit  of  the  waters.  While  doing 
tliis  he  was  stripping  off  first  one,  then  another,  of  his 
ornaments,  and  casting  them  from  him  into  the  stream. 
First  he  threw  in  his  pipe,  then  his  tobacco,  then  the 
bracelets  he  wore  on  his  arms  and  wrists,  and  lastly 
his  necklace  and  ear-rings.  When  he  had  thus  divested 


himself  of  every  article  of  value 
he  possessed,   the   Indian   con- 
cluded his  prayer  of  adoration 
with  which  his  propitiatory  offer- 
ings were  so  freely  joined.    Car- 
ver's   journey,    in    this    direction, 
ended  at  the  River  St.  Francis.      Returning  south  he 
ascended  the  St.  Peter's,  or  Minnesota  River,  by  his  own 
account,  for  a  distance  of  two  hundred  miles,  to  the 
villages  of  the  Sioux  with  whom  he  passed  the  winter. 

But  after  thus  penetrating  far  into  what  is  now  the 
State  of  Minnesota,  Carver  found  himself  unable  to 
proceed.  The  gifts  that  were  to  be  sent  after  him,  and 
which  were  essential  to  securing  a  safe-conduct  among 


152       WHAT   JONATHAN   CARVER   AIMED   TO  BO. 


the  Indian  nations  on  his  route,  did  not  come.  No 
alternative  therefore  remained  but  to  go  back  to  Prairie 
du  Chien,  the  great  Indian  trading-mart  of  all  that 
region,  where  the  explorer  finally  gave  up  the  attempt 
to  go  west  at  this  time.  He  then  returned  to  Canada 
by  way  of  the  St.  Croix  and  Lake  Superior,  bringing 
with  him  the  information  gained  by  a  seven  months' 

residence    among    the 
Sioux. 

Carver's  Travels 
were  published  in  Eng- 
land in  1778,  ten  years 
after  his  return,  al- 
though his  notes  and 
maps  had  been  in  the 
government's  posses- 
sion for  some  years, 
permission  to  publish 
them  having  been  re- 
fused him. 

It  is  here  that  we 
first  find  the  name  of 
Oregon,1  given  to  the 
great  river  of  the  Pa- 
cific  slope.     Carver  speaks  of  it   repeatedly  as  "  the 
river  of  the  West  that  falls  into  the  Pacific  Ocean." 

This  explorer  afterward  (1774)  decided  to  renew  the 
effort  to  cross  America,  his  indicated  route  being  up 
the  St.  Peter's  to  its  head,  thence  across  to  the  Missouri, 
up  this  stream  to  its  source,  and,  after  discovering 
the  source  of  the  "  Oregon  or  River  of  the  West,  on  the 
other  side  the  summit  of  the  dividing  highlands,"  to 
descend  it  to  the  sea.  His  purpose  was  frustrated  by 


INDIAN    BU11IAL   SCAFFOLD. 


WHAT   JONATHAN   CARVER   AIMED  TO   DO.       153 


the  war  between  England  and  the  colonies.  He  has, 
however,  put  on  record  his  opinion  touching  the  future 
of  the  great  Mississippi  valley.  This  is  his  prophecy : 

"  To  what  power  or  authority  this  new  world  will  become  de- 
pendent, after  it  has  arisen  from  its  present  uncultivated  state, 
titiir  alone  can  discover.  But  as  the  seat  of  empire,  from  time 
immemorial,  has  been  gradually  progressive  towards  the  west,  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  at  some  future  period,  mighty  kingdoms  will 
emerge  from  these  wildernesses,  and  stately  palaces,  and  solemn 
temples,  with  gilded  spires,  reaching  the  skies,  supplant  the  Indian 
huts  whose  only  decorations  are  the  barbarous  trophies  of  their 
vanquished  enemies." 


»  OREGON.  What  were  Carver's 
sources  of  information  about  this  river? 
The  Sioux  told  Father  Charlevoix  forty 
odd  years  earlier  (1721),  that  by  going 
up  the  Missouri,  as  high  as  possible,  a 
great  river  would  be  found  running  west, 
into  the  sea.  Carver,  we  know,  had  read 
Charlevoix's  work.  Yet  the  Sicux  may 
have  told  him  the  same  story,  which  he 
so  constantly  reiterates  in  his  own  narra- 
tive, and  we  know  it  to  be  a  true  story. 
Substantially,  Carver  followed  the  same 
route  which  Marquette,  Hennepin,  and 
others  had  before  him.  This  may  have 
cast  doubts  upon  the  validity  of  all  he 
has  given,  as  of  his  own  knowledge. 
But  the  main  facts  came  within  the  ken 
of  so  many  persons,  who  could  have 
stamped  them  as  spurious,  but  did  not, 


that  we  think  their  validity  must   be 
granted. 

But  what  is  the  origin  of  the  name 
OREGON  first  used  by  Carver?  Here  we 
are  all  at  sea.  Bonneville  says  the  word 
comes  from  Oregano,  which  he  asserts 
to  have  been  the  early  Spanish  name  for 
the  Columbia  River  country  —  derived 
from  oreganura,  the  botanical  name  for 
the  wild-sage  plant,  or  artemisla.  This 
seems  hardly  conclusive.  Again,  we 
know  the  Spaniards  gave  the  name  Los 
Organos  (Organ  Mountains)  to  a  range 
of  the  Sierra  Madre,  so  it  is  possible 
they  may  have  applied  it  indefinitely  to 
the  whole  chain,  north  of  New  Mexico. 
But  the  Sioux  could  hardly  have  known 
of  cither  derivation,  or  Carver  have  in- 
vented the  name. 


JOHN    LEDYARD'S   IDEA. 


CORPORAL  JOHN  LEDYARD'S  1  fancy  had  been  taken 
captive  by  the  exploits  of  Captain  Cook,  which  for  a 
time  fairly  renewed  the  enthusiasm  Drake's  bold  dash 
into  the  far  South  Sea  had  created  so  long  before. 

Ledyard  was  a  born  explorer.     Every  thing  he  saw 


154  JOHN  LEDYARD'S  IDEA. 

while  under  Cook's  command  was  jotted  down  from 
day  to  day  in  his  diary.  He  was  quick-witted,  restless, 
and  ambitious  of  making  his  way  in  the  world,  nor  was 
he  slow  to  see  the  advantage  that  the  north-west  coast 
offered  to  whomsoever  should  be  first  in  the  field.  But 
Ledyard  had  been  wearing  King  George's  uniform, 
though  himself  an  American,  whom  thirst  for  new 
scenes  had  led  to  enlist  under  a  hostile  flag.  When, 
however,  after  his  return  to  England,  Ledyard  was  sent 
out  to  America,  rather  than  fight  against  his  country 
he  deserted. 

His  mind  was  filled  with  crude  projects  for  securing 
the  commerce  of  the  north-west  coast,  not  for  England, 
but  for  America,  and  America  was  now  a  free  republic. 
So  he  had  imbibed  at  least  the  spirit  of  what  is  now 
known  as  the  Monroe  Doctrine. 

Ledyard  first  tried  to  get  American  merchants  to  fit 
out  a  ship  for  him.  Failing  in  this  he  went  to  France, 
thinking  to  secure  there  the  help  he  wanted. 

It  happened  that  while  Ledyard  was  trying  to  get  up 
a  company  to  carry  on  his  schemes,  Louis  XVI.  was 
fitting  out  La  Peyrouse  to  follow  up  Cook's  track  in 
the  Pacific,  and  so  make  good  what  that  eminent  navi- 
gator had  failed  to  make  complete. 

Ledyard  importuned  everybody.  Haunting  those 
who  would  listen  to  him,  borrowing  money  first  from 
one  and  then  another  in  order  to  live,  sometimes  with- 
out a  crown  in  his  pocket,  always  repulsed,  but  never 
despairing,  the  would-be  explorer  woke  and  slept  on 
his  one  ever-present  idea. 

"  I  die  with  anxiety,"  he  says  to  a  friend,  "  to  be  on 
the  back  of  the  American  States,  after  having  pene- 
trated to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  There  is  an  extensive 


JOHN  LED  YARD'S  IDEA.  155 

field  for  the  acquirement  of  honest  fame.  The  Ameri- 
can Revolution  invites  to  a  thorough  discovery  of  the 
continent.  It  was  necessary  that  a  European  should 
discover  America,  but  in  the  name  of  love  of  country 
let  a  native  explore  its  resources  and  boundaries.  It  is 
my  wisli  to  be  that  man." 

Thomas  Jefferson  was,  at  this  time  (1785),  our  min- 
ister to  France,  "in  every  word  and  deed  the  repre- 
sentative of  a  young,  vigorous  and  determined  state." 
Ledyard  often  sought  his  counsel  and  aid.  Struck  by 
Ledyard's  uncommon  devotion  to  his  one  idea,  Jefferson 
said  to  him  one  day,  u  Why  not  go  by  land  to  Kam- 
schatka,  cross  over  in  some  of  the  Russian  vessels  to 
Nootka  Sound,  fall  down  into  the  latitude  of  the  Mis- 
souri, and  penetrate  to  and  through  that  to  the  United 
States?" 

This  conversation  curiously  shows  us  that,  at  the  time 
the  American  Union  was  first  formed,  more  was  known 
about  Kamschatka  than  about  the  region  lying  between 
the  Mississippi  and  the  Pacific  Ocean.  Through  Sibe- 
ria, at  least,  there  was  a  travelled  route,  while  from 
the  Mississippi  to  the  Pacific  there  was  none.  The  con- 
versation is  therefore  an  instructive  starting-point  in  the 
history  of  our  country. 

Although  the  enterprise  itself  failed  to  bear  fruit  at 
this  time,  the  coming  together  of  these  two  men,  one  of 
whom  became  the  apostle  of  the  American  idea  in  its 
broadest  sense,  was  like  the  striking  together  of  flint 
and  steel.  Fire  followed  it.  Ledyard  had  the  best 
knowledge  of  the  subject.  Ledyard  pointed  out  the 
way.  Ledyard  had  given  Jefferson  something  to  pon- 
der, which,  in  his  sagacious  mind,  soon  grew  to  a  ques- 
tion of  highest  national  importance. 


156  JOHN  LEDYARD'S  IDEA. 

Ledyard  eagerly  agreed  to  make  the  trial,  provided 
that  the  Russian  Government  would  give  its  consent. 
This  being  granted,  the  explorer  set  out  for  Kam- 
schatka ;  but  at  Irkutsk,  in  Siberia,  he  was  stopped  and 
turned  back,  in  consequence  of  the  jealousy  of  the  Rus- 
sian-American Company,  whose  headquarters  were  at 
Irkutsk,  and  who  feared  their  interests  would  be  endan- 
gered if  this  daring  stranger  were  permitted  to  pass  into 
their  territory. 

From  this  time  Ledyard's  personal  history  ceases  to 
be  associated  with  that  of  the  Great  West.  But  he  was 
the  first  to  perceive,  perhaps  dimly,  what  was  shortly 
to  become,  with  a  broader  growth,  the  ruling  idea  of 
American  statesmen. 

1  JOHN  LEDYARD  was  a  native  of  Connecticut  River,  from  Hanover  to 
Groton,  Conn.;  (born  1751,  brother  of  Hartford,  one  hundred  and  forty  miles. 
Colonel  William,  who  fell  in  the  de-  Ledyard  was  proud,  sensitive,  impulsive, 
fence  of  Groton,  1781).  John  went  first  and  restive  under  correction  or  restraint, 
to  Dartmouth  College  to  be  fitted  as  an  Finding  his  purpose  to  enter  the  minis- 
Indian  missionary.  In  those  primitive  try  thwarted,  in  a  fit  of  resentment  he 
days  the  students  were  called  together  shipped  for  the  Mediterranean  as  a  corn- 
by  the  blowingof  a  conch-shell.  Though  mon  sailor  before  the  mast.  Thisvoyage 
quick  and  apt  to  learn,  Ledyard  hated  was  Ledyard's  preparation  for  service 
study.  He  preferred  climbing  the  moun-  under  Cook.  He  was  in  turn  theological 
tains  about  the  college.  In  four  months  student,  sailor,  soldier,  explorer,  and  in 
he  ran  away.  He,  however,  returned,  his  make-up  all  these  characters  were 
but  finding  the  rigid  discipline  no  less  combined  to  produce  a  thorough-going 
irksome  than  before,  made  his  escape  in  explorer, 
a  canoe,  in  which  he  floated  down  the 


A  YANKEE  SHIP   DISCOVERS  THE   COLUMBIA   RIVER. 

WITH  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  the  com- 
mercial spirit  of  our  countrymen  began  to  re-assert  itself 
in  deeds  which  should  stamp  them  for  all  time  as  worthy 
sons  of  worthy  sires.  Far  back,  even  when  the  colonies 
were  but  a  few  feeble  settlements  strung  along  the 


A   YANKEE   SHIP   DISCOVERS   COLUMBIA   RIVER.     157 


Atlantic  seaboard,  few  people  had  shown  greater  enter- 
prise in  seeking  avenues  for  commerce  than  they. 


* 


• 

PAG 

'•jC.Disappointment 


SCALE  OF  MILES 


o  J* 


MOUTH   OF  THE   COLUMBIA  RIVER. 


This  was  especially  the  case  with  the  New-England 
colonies.  War  had  ruined  their  commerce,  but  with  the 
coming  of  peace  the  shrewd  New-England  merchants 
were  on  the  lookout  for  new  outlets,  since  nowhere 


153     A   YANKEE   SHIP   DISCOVERS   COLUMBIA   RIVER. 

could  ships  be  so  cheaply  built,  while  the  population 
largely  got  their  living  either  on  or  from  the  sea.  Be- 
sides this,  they  had  a  brand-new  flag  of  their  own,  of 
which  they  were  justly  proud,  and  which  they  wished 
to  see  afloat  on  the  most  distant  seas. 

The  discoveries  made  on  the  north-west  coast  by  Eng- 
land, though  kept  secret  till  after  the  close  of  the  war, 
were  by  no  means  unknown  to  our  merchants  and  sail- 
ors, in  whom  the  laudable  desire  to  profit  by  every 
avenue  the  ocean  might  throw  open  to  honest  enterprise 
and  skill,  was  inspired  and  increased  by  a  condition  of 
national  freedom. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  certain  merchants  of  Boston 
formed  (1787)  a  partnership  for  beginning  a  trade  be- 
tween the  north-west  coast  and  China.  They  fitted  out 
the  ship  "  Columbia,"  of  two  hundred  tons,  and  sloop 
"  Washington,"  of  ninety  tons  burden,  with  trading- 
goods,  which  the  masters  were  to  barter  for  furs  with 
the  Indians,  sell  the  furs  at  Canton,  and  with  the  pro- 
ceeds buy  teas  for  the  home-market.  Large  profits  were 
expected.  As  the  United  States  was  a  new  power  at 
sea,  and  her  flag  little  known,  the  masters  were  provided 
with  passports,  to  certify  they  were  honest  traders 
sailing  under  an  honest  flag. 

The  owners,  however,  looked  somewhat  farther  than  a 
niere  trading  voyage  would  suggest.  They  had  in  mind 
the  establishment,  under  the  national  authority,  of  per- 
manent factories,  somewhat  similar  to  those  of  the 
Hudson's  Bay  Company.  Looking  to  this  end,  their 
masters,  John  Kendrick  and  Robert  Gray,  were  in- 
structed to  buy  lands  of  the  natives,  to  build  storehouses 
or  forts,  or  make  such  other  improvements  on  these  lands 
as  would  insure  their  permanent  tenure  to  the  owners. 


A    YANKKK    SHIP    IHsri  >v  K1IH    COLUMBIA    1MVK1I.      If)'.) 


In  so  far  as  occupation  by  any  white  people  was  con- 
cerned, the  territory  lying  between  Cape  Meudo< -inn 
and  the  St  raits  of  Fuca  was  known  to  be  vacant,  though, 
out  of  England,  Spain  was  thought  to  have  the  best 
claim  to  it,  Kendriek  and  Gray  were  therefore  directed 
i<»  Ix'H'in  operations  on  this  unexplored  strip  of  coast, 
nut  only  as  traders,  but  as  explorers  of  an  undiscovered 
country. 

L«-ss  could  not  well  be  said  of  these  voyages,  because 
of  the  importance  they  subsequently  assumed  in  the  dis- 
pute between  Kngland  and 
the  United  States  about  their 
respective  boundaries,  but  we 
will  leave  that  question  now 
to  take  its  proper  turn  in  the 
story,  and  go  back  to  the 
voyages  themselves. 

Both  vessels l  reached 
Nootka  in  the  early  autumn 
of  1788.  Having  made  her 
cargo,  the  "  Columbia  "  set 
sail  for  Canton,  sold  her  furs  for  teas,  with  which  she 
returned  to  Boston  in  August,  1790,  thus  first  carrying 
the  flag  quite  round  the  world. 

This  time  the  Bostonians  did  not  throw  the  tea  over- 
board as  they  had  once  done,  when  it  came  seasoned 
with  an  odious  tax.  A  quite  different  reception  was 
given  to  the  "  Columbia "  as  she  sailed  up  the  harbor 
with  the  stars  and  stripes  fluttering  at  her  mast-head, 
after  an  absence  of  nearly  three  years.  As  she  passed 
the  Castle,  the  u  Columbia"  fired  a  national  salute,  which 
the  fortress  immediately  returned.  The  loud-booming 
cannon  brought  the  inhabitants  in  crowds  to  the  wharves 


COIN   STKUCK   FOll  THE   VOYAGE. 


160     A   YANKEE   SHIP   DISCOVERS   COLUMBIA   RIVER. 

to  see  what  ship  was  receiving  such  honorable  welcome. 
As  the  "  Columbia "  rounded  to,  in  the  inner  harbor, 
the  people  shouted,  the  cannon  pealed,  as  if  the  occasion 
were  one  worthy  of  public  commemoration  and  rejoicing. 
It  was,  indeed,  felt  to  be  the  breaking  away  from  old 
despotisms  which  a  colonial  condition  had  so  long  im- 
posed, while  the  track  round  the  globe  was  not  yet  so 
much  travelled,  or  so  well  known,  as  to  make  the  "  Co- 
lumbia's "  voyage  seem  any  less  a  great  achievement. 

It  happened  that  the  "Columbia"  had  touched  at 
Owyhee,  the  royal  residence  of  the  king  of  the  Sand- 
wich Islands.  Captain  Gray  persuaded  the  king  to  let 
the  crown  prince  go  with  him  to  the  United  States." 
The  prince  was  royally  welcomed  in  Boston,  and  safely 
returned  to  his  native  land,  so  bringing  about  a  friend- 
liness between  Americans  and  the  islanders,  of  much 
benefit  to  commerce  in  the  future. 

Although  the  owners  had  lost  money2  by  the  venture, 
they  were  public-spirited  men,  and  determined  on  mak- 
ing a  second  trial.  The  "  Columbia "  was  therefore 
again  fitted  for  sea,  and  in  June,  1791,  was  again  breast- 
ing the  waves  of  the  North  Pacific.  During  this  second 
voyage,  Captain  Gray  saw  the  mouth  of  a  river,  into 
which,  however,  he  did  not  sail,  because  the  surf 
broke  with  violence  quite  across  it.  He,  however,  care- 
fully noted  down  the  latitude  in  his  log ;  but  when, 
shortly  after,  he  fell  in  with  Vancouver,  that  officer 
doubted  what  Gray  told  him  about  this  river.  It  could 
not  be  there,  he  thought,  since  he  himself  had  care- 
fully searched  without  finding  it. 

After  parting  company  with  Vancouver,  Gray  sailed 
south,  with  the  intention  of  knowing  more  about  the 
river  in  question.  When  the  entrance  was  sighted,  the 


A   YANKEE   SHIP   DISCOVERS   COLUMBIA   RIVER.      161 


u  Columbia  "  was  boldly  steered  for  it  with  all  sails  set. 
She  safely  ran  in  between  the  breakers,  into  a  broad 
basin  which  no  keel  but  hers  had  ever  ploughed  before, 
and  without  anchoring  held  her  onward  course  fourteen 
miles  up  the  river,  surrounded  by  a  swarm  of  canoes, 
among  which  the  stately  ship  moved  a  leviathan  indeed. 

When  the  anchor  was  let  go,  Captain  Gray  found 
himself  quietly  floating  on  the  bosom  of  a  large  fresh- 
water river,  to  which, 
upon  quitting  it,  he 
gave  the  name  of  his 
ship,  —  the     Colum- 
bia.8 

As  a  result  of  these 
voyages,  the  direct 
trade  between  the 
North  Pacific  and 
China  fell  almost  ex- 
clusively into  the 
hands  of  American 
traders.  British  mer- 
chants  were  re- 
strained from  enga- 
ging in  it  by  the 
opposition  of  their  East  India  Company.  Russian  ves- 
sels were  not  admitted  into  Chinese  ports.  We  find 
the  British  explorer,  Mackenzie,  speaking  with  much 
ill-humor  about  this  state  of  things,  which,  nevertheless, 
only  goes  to  prove  the  energy  and  skill  of  American 
merchants  and  ship-masters,  who,  from  the  first  voyages 
of  the  "Columbia,"  were  known  to  the  Indians  of  the 
north-west  coast  as  Bostons,  because  these  vessels  hailed 
from  that  port. 


AN  OBEOON  BELLE. 


162     A  YANKEE   SHIP  DISCOVERS   COLUMBIA   RIVER. 

»  BOTH  VESSELS.  The  "  Washing-  »  THE  COLUMBIA  RIVER.  The  en 

ton,"  being  a  sort  of  tender  to  the  trance  was  sighted  by  Heceta  (Spaniard), 

"  Columbia,"  coasted  about  Vancouver  1775,  who  called  the  northern  promon 

Island  and  Straits  of  Fuca.  J.ii  pursu-  tory  St.  Roque.  This  name  was  soon 

ance  of  his  instructions,  her  master  given,  on  Spanish  maps,  to  a  river  St. 

bought  large  tracts  of  laud  from  native  Roque,  flowing  out  into  lleceta's  inlet, 

chiefs,  from  whom  he  took  regular  deeds.  who  says,  "  These  eddies  of  the  water 

Copper  coins,  and  medals  struck  for  the  caused  me  to  believe  that  the  place  is  the 

purpose,  were  also  given  to  the  natives.  mouth  of  some  great  river."  He  did 

Kendrick  was  the  first  to  collect  sandal-  not,  however,  attempt  to  enter.  Captain 

wood  as  an  article  of  commerce.  Meares  (1788),  in  searching  for  this 

2  THE  OWNERS  LOST  MONEY.  "  All  River  St.  Roque,  ran  into  the  inlet,  but, 

concerned  in  that  enterprise  have  sunk  seeing  nothing  but  breakers  ahead,  left 

fifty  per  cent  of  their  capital.  This  is  a  it  under  the  conviction  that  there  was  no 

heavy  disappointment  to  them,  as  they  such  river.  On  this  account  he  called 

had  calculated,  every  owner,  to  make  an  the  northern  promontory  Cape  Disap- 

indepeudent  fortune."  —  Letter  to  Gen-  pointment.  The  southern  point  was 

eral  H.  Knox.  named  by  Gray,  Point  Adams. 


THE  WEST  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  CENTURY. 

"  America  now  attains  her  majority" 

AT  the  close  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  almost  noth- 
ing was  known  in  the  American  colonies  about  the  coun- 
try lying  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi.  The  sources 
of  the  Missouri l  were  unknown  even  to  French  traders. 
Nobody  knew  that  a  great  sister  river  carried  the  snows 
of  the  Rocky  Mountains  to  the  Pacific,  or  that  the  head 
waters  of  these  two  noble  streams  lay  coiled  about  the 
feet  of  the  same  lofty  chain. 

Where,  then,  should  we  locate  the  West?  Possibly 
central  along  the  eastern  base  of  the  Alleghanies,  cer- 
tainly remote  at  Pittsburg,  and  perhaps  reaching  its 
vanishing-point  somewhere  about  the  Dark  and  Bloody 
Ground  of  Kentucky.  Among  a  host  of  foes  civiliza- 
tion stood  at  bay  here,  but  would  take  no  backward 
step. 

France  opened  the  way  from  east  to  west.     France 


THE  WEST   AT   THE   OPENING   OF  THE   CENTURY.     163 

and  England  fought  for  the  primacy  of  the  continent, 
and  England  won.  Defeated  France  gave  up  the  idea 
of  maintaining  herself  in  America,  and  secretly  ceded  to 
Spain  what  the  war  had  left  her  west  of  the  Mississippi, 
as  a  bankrupt  might  convey  his  property  out  of  the  reach 
of  his  most  pressing  creditor. 

When  the  Colonies  revolted,  France  saw  her  way  to 
make  them,  like  the  cat  in  the  fable,  pull  her  chestnuts 
out  of  the  fire.  It  is  no  part  of  a  king's  trade  to  set  up 
a  republic.  France  played  her  own  game,2  played  it 
astutely  and  to  the  end.  When  the  Colonies,  with  her 
help,  achieved  their  independence,  she  showed  them, 
much  to  their  wonder,  for  they  were  fresh  to  the  tricks 
of  diplomacy,  that  in  politics  there  is  no  more  friend- 
ship than  in  trade,  or  rather  that  politics  is  a  game  in 
which  the  best  player  wins. 

In  view  of  what  it  had  cost  her  to  give  up  Louisiana, 
in  the  first  place,  not  only  in  loss  of  territory,  but 
national  prestige,  it  is  perhaps  not  strange  that  when, 
as  our  ally,  France  was  in  turn  a  victor,  she  should  be 
found  trying  to  get  back  Louisiana  for  herself.  To  do 
this  she  had  to  play  a  double  game,  with  the  help  of 
Spain,  while  that  power  stood  ready  in  the  background 
to  take  any  thing  that  came  in  her  way. 

These  two  gamesters  wished  to  restore  what  we  should 
call  the  old  balance  of  pOAver,  thus  confining  the  United 
States  nearly  in  the  limits  they  had  occupied  as  colo- 
nies. To  her  honor,  England  would  not  listen  to  their 
seductive  pleadings.  Not  that  she  loved  her  revolted 
subjects  more,  but  that  she  loved  her  old  rivals  less. 
When  John  Jay  gave  their  schemes  to  the  light  of  day, 
it  was  seen  France  had  never  meant  we  should  be  a 
power  among  the  nations  —  only  a  little  republic.  In 


164  THE  WEST  AT  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  CENTURY. 

the  end  England's  pride  prevailed  over  the  sting  of 
wounded  self-love.  Instead  of  dictating  the  terms  of 
peace,  as  she  had  meant  to  do,  France  had  to  see  her- 
self shut  out  from  Louisiana,  for  good  and  all,  while 
Spain,  the  Mephistophiles  of  American  affairs,  recov- 


A   MISSISSIPPI   FLAT-BOAT. 


ered  Florida  from  England,  so  excluding  the  United 
States  from  access  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  either  by  the 
seaboard  or  the  Mississippi  River.  What  was  now  left 
of  French  Louisiana,  as  it  existed  previous  to  this  war, 
presented  the  anomaly  of  a  colony  of  French  people 
living  under  the  Spanish  flag. 

In  effect,  John  Jay  had  urged  upon  England  that 
blood  is  thicker  than  water.     Franklin  said,  "Let  us 


THE   WEST   AT  THE  OPENING   OF   THE  CENTURY.     165 

now  forgive  and  forget."  And  so  the  Anglo-Saxon 
spirit  prevailed. 

With  independence  achieved,  the  United  States  gained, 
as  we  have  seen,  all  the  territory,  except  Canada,  which 
England  had  conquered  from  France.  At  a  single 
stride  her  frontier  had  reached  the  Mississippi  on  the 
west  and  the  Great  Lakes  on  the  north. 

Before  the  war,  of  which  this  was  the  grand  sequel, 
a  thin  stream  of  English  immigrants,  chiefly  from  Vir- 
ginia and  North  Carolina,  under  the  lead  of  Daniel 
Boone,  had  crossed  the  mountains  of  North  Carolina 
into  Kentucky.  This  movement  was  central  in  what 
is  commonly  known  as  the  Blue  Grass  Region,  of  which 
Lexington  may  be  considered  the  pivot. 

After  the  war,  a  second  and  larger  emigration,  chiefly 
from  New  England,  crossed  over  the  Alleghanies  to  the 
head  of  navigation  on  the  Ohio,  whence  it  moved  down 
that  river  to  the  Muskingum,  and  was  central  about 
Marietta.  Here,  then,  we  have  two  separate  streams  of 
population,  belonging  to  the  same  sturdy  Anglo-Saxon 
race,  though  originating  in  different  sections  of  the 
young  Republic,  each  taking  along  with  it  to  its  new 
home  in  the  West  the  customs  and  traditions  of  its  own 
section,  and  guided  by  instinct  or  destiny  upon  lines 
which,  ere  long,  were  to  divide  slave  from  free  States. 

By  an  Act  of  Congress,  known  in  history  as  the  Ordi- 
nance of  1787,  all  that  great  block  of  wilderness  coun- 
try, into  which  this  last  emigration  was  setting,  became 
one  political  division  under  the  name  of  the  North-west 
Territory.3  The  Act  creating  this  territory  also  pro- 
vided for  making  three  States  from  it,  and  most  wisely 
forbade  that  slavery  should  ever  exist  within  its  borders. 
Thus  it  was  that  the  Ohio  came  to  be  not  only  a  physi- 


166     THE   WEST   AT   THE   OPENING   OF   THE   CENTURY. 

cal,  but  a  political,  dividing-line  between  the  sections, 
which,  now  that  the  law  of  the  land  had  fixed  a  limit 
slavery  should  not  overstep,  came  to  be  designated  as 
North  and  South,  not,  as  formerly,  from  geographical 
situation  only,  but  because  the  line  had  been  thus 
sharply  drawn  between  free  and  slave  institutions. 
Each  was  now  on  trial  before  the  world ;  each  was  now 
to  show  what  it  could  do  for  human  progress,  under  its 
own  institutions,  with  its  own  means,  and  on  its  own 
chosen  ground. 

It  would  seem  as  if  this  splendid  acquisition  of  ours, 
this  North-west  Territory,  now  constituting  the  great 
heart  and  seat  of  power  in  the  American  Union,  might 
well  have  filled  the  fullest  measure  of  patriotic  desire 
for  territorial  expansion.  It  was  to  be,  however,  but 
the  cradle  of  a  newer  and  more  robust  growth,  as  the 
original  States  had  been  for  that  just  beginning  at  the 
centre.  It  was  an  empire  in  itself,  comprising  all  those 
States  now  enclosed  between  the  Mississippi,  the  Ohio, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  Great  Lakes.  Yet  this  whole 
tract  held,  in  1792,  no  more  than  ten  thousand  whites, 
settled  in  widely  scattered  spots,  among  sixty-five  thou- 
sand wild  Indians. 

These  widely  scattered  spots  were  the  new  settle- 
ments at  Marietta  and  Fort  Harmar  on  the  Muskingum, 
Cincinnati  and  Fort  Washington  on  the  Ohio,  Clarks- 
ville  at  the  Falls  of  the  Ohio,  with  the  old  French  posts 
of  Vincennes  on  the  Wabash,  Kaskaskia  on  the  river  of 
the  name,  and  Fort  Chartres  and  Cahokia  on  the  Mis- 
sissippi. Over  this  vast  tract  a  score  of  military  posts 
held  the  Indians  in  check,  and  formed  the  kernels  of 
future  settlements.  Along  the  line  of  the  Great  Lakes, 
and  contrary  to  treaty  stipulations  with  her,  England 


THE  WEST  AT  THE  OPENING   OF  THE   CENTUKY.     167 

still  held  the  key-points,  —  Niagara,  Miami,  Detroit, 
Michilimackinac,  —  thus  restricting  the  movement  of 
our  citizens  from  east  to  west  on  that  line,  and  so  shut- 
ting them  out  from  the  lucrative  Indian  trade  of  the 
Far  West. 

Let  us  now  look  at  the  section  south  of  the  Ohio. 


ON   THE   LOWER  MISSISSIPPI. 


Kentucky  was  made  a  State  in  1792,  and  Tennessee 
in  1796.  All  south  of  Tennessee  and  west  of  Georgia 
was  formed  (1798)  into  the  Mississippi  Territory.  On 
the  east,  or  American,  shore  of  the  Mississippi,  settle- 
ment was  mostly  confined  to  the  places  mentioned  in 
"  The  Founding  of  Louisiana  "  as  villages.  None  had 
outgrown  this  condition.  Most  were  simply  planta- 
tions. Population  had  increased  (1785)  to  thirty-eight 


168    THE   WEST   AT   THE  OPENING   OF   THE  CENTURY. 

thousand  persons,  chiefly  by  the  coming-in  of  refugees 
from  Nova  Scotia  and  St.  Domingo.  And  blacks  were 
already  numerous  enough  to  cause  uneasiness  among 
the  planters.  The  cultivation  of  cotton  and  sugar 
was  growing  to  importance  ;  but  the  Spaniards  at  New 
Orleans  wanted  all  the  water  to  their  own  mill,  as  the 
proverb  has  it,  which  meant  nearly  the  same  thing  as 
closing  the  river  to  American  trade  altogether. 

The  Falls  of  the  Ohio  had  already  begun  to  assume 
importance  both  as  a  depot  and  shipping-point.  They 
were  a  natural  stopping-place  for  all  boats  going  up  or 
down  the  river.  Hence  Louisville  had  grown  up  above 
the  falls  as  the  port  of  a  remarkably  thrifty  cluster  of 
inland  settlements  which  had  taken  the  place  of  the 
primitive  stations  of  the  first  settlers. 

On  both  sides  of  the  Ohio  the  Indians  made  a  deter- 
mined stand  against  the  coming  in  of  white  settlers.  But 
bravely  as  they  fought,  their  power  was  so  broken  in 
many  bloody  conflicts,  that  they  were,  at  length  (1794), 
glad  to  sue  for  peace.  Shorn  of  power,  they  were  now 
confined  within  narrower  limits.  England  gave  up 
(1795)  the  lake  fortresses.  All  roads  to  the  West  being 
now  open,  they  were  speedily  thronged  by  an  army  of 
settlers. 

1  THE  SOURCES  OF  THE  MISSOURI.  Vergennes,  Intrigued  with  the  British 
About  the  time  Mackenzie  crossed  the  minister,  Shelburne,  outside  the  knowl- 
mountains  (see  chapter  "  Hudson's  Bay  edge  of  the  United  States  Commission- 
to    the  Pacific"),  an  employee  of  the  ers.    See"  Life  of  Lord  Shelbnrne." 
North-west  Company,  named  Fidler,  is  s  NORTH-WEST    TERRITORY       was 
reported  to  have  gone  from  Fort  Buck-  ceded  to  the  General  Government  by  the 
ingham  to   the  head  of  the    Missouri.  States  to  provide  a  means  for  paying  off 
Traders  from   St.  Louis  ascended  the  the  debt  incurred  during  the  war.    In 
river  at  this  period,  but  how  far  is  un-  thirty  years  it  had  half  a  million  people, 
certain.  Connecticut  reserved  a  strip  along  Lake 

2  FRANCE  PLATED  HER  OWK  GAME.  Erie  to  herself. 
It  is  notorious  that  the  Fr«neh  minister, 


GROUP  II 


BTRTH  OF  THE  AMERICAN  IDEA. 


AMERICA    FOR    AMERICANS. 


"America,  is  therefore   the  land  of   the  future."  —  HEGEL. 


I. 

AMERICA    FOR    AMERICANS. 


ACQUISITION   OF   LOUISIANA. 
"/  have  given  England  a  rlual  that  will  humble  her  pride."  —  Napoleon. 

WE  have  now  done  with  that  part  of  French  Louisi- 
ana lying  east  of  the  Mississippi.  It  is  now  blos- 
soming all  over  with  incipient  civilization  in  the  form 
of  log  cabins,  trading-posts,  cross-roads,  hamlets,  and 
schoolhouses. 

From  1793  to  1799  our  old  ally  France,  now  become 
a  republic,  was  trying  first  to  cajole,  then  to  bully  us 
into  taking  up  her  quarrel  with  England.  She  even 
went  to  the  length  of  demanding  tribute-money  from 
us  as  the  price  of  peace,  and,  upon  a  refusal,  of  ordering 
our  minister  out  of  her  territory.  Our  remonstrances 
were  treated  with  disdain,  our  ships  captured,  and  our 
flag  fired  upon  at  sea,  without  even  the  formality  of  a 
declaration  of  war.  This  conduct  drove  us  into  making 
reprisal.  After  one  or  two  of  her  frigates  had  been 
beaten  in  fight  by  ours,  France  grew  more  pacific  toward 
us,  and  again  cultivated  friendly  relations  with  a  power 
she  had  seemed'  to  despise,  until  the  reply  "  Millions  for 
defence,  but  not  a  cent  for  tribute," 1  warned  her  that 
America  would  never  yield  a  principle  to  threats. 

Let  us  now  turn  to  Spain.     In  1795  this  power  had 

171 


172  ACQUISITION   OP   LOUISIANA. 

made  a  treaty  which  secured  to  us  the  right  of  storing a 
American  goods  at  New  Orleans,  pending  shipment 
abroad,  thus  making  the  river  so  far  free  for  our  com- 
merce. 

In  1800  Napoleon  had  come  to  the  head  of  the  French 
nation.  Ambition  to  restore  the  ancient  sovereignty  of 
France  over  Louisiana  led  him  to  propose  to  Spain  the 
exchange  of  Tuscany  for  it.  Spain  accepted  the  offer, 
and  in  1800-1801  treaties  of  cession  were  signed,  but 
not  made  public,  because  war  with  England  was  proba- 
ble, and  Napoleon  wished  to  make  his  title  good  on  the 
spot  with  the  bayonets  of  his  soldiers,  before  England 
could  know  of  it.  Therefore  for  the  present  Spain  kept 
possession  of  Louisiana  in  trust  for  France. 

Just  here  some  grave  international  questions  arose. 
Our  rapid  growth  in  the  West  gave  Spain  uneasiness. 
It  certainly  was  putting  her  possessions  in  peril.  In 
consequence  she  showed  such  an  unfriendly  spirit  toward 
us  as  to  keep  the  West  in  a  state  of  chronic  irritation.3 
It  even  disposed  the  West  to  listen  to  plans  for  separat- 
ing her  from  the  East,  which  Spain  would  gladly  have 
aided  in,  and  so  was  fast  breaking  up  the  feeling  of 
national  unity  so  essential  to  keep  alive  in  the  Republic. 

Suddenly,  without  previous  notice,  the  Spanish  in- 
tendant  at  New  Orleans  revoked  the  right  of  deposit. 
The  act  shut  the  only  door  by  which  the  people  of 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Illinois  could  get  to  the  sea.  It 
exasperated  them  to  such  a  point  that  they  begged  the 
General  Government  to  drive  the  Spaniards  out  of 
the  Mississippi  for  good  and  all. 

In  Thomas  Jefferson  the  people  of  the  West  found  a 
more  sagacious  advocate.  The  cession  could  not  long 
remain  a  secret.  It  was  soon  known  in  the  United 


ACQUISITION    OF   LOUISIANA.  173 

States ;  but  instead  of  calming  the  people,  the  change 
of  masters  revived  their  fears,  since  it  was  felt  that 
Napoleon,  whose  exploits  filled  Europe  with  alarm, 
would  prove  more  difficult  to  deal  with  than  Spain, 
whom  nobody  feared. 

Such  was  the  situation  presented  to  Mr.  Jefferson. 
Fortunately  for  its  solution,  national  pride  and  national 
policy  do  not  always  go  hand  in  hand. 

Our  minister,  Livingston,4  a  very  able  man,  was  told 
to  bring  the  Louisiana  question  to  Napoleon's  atten- 
tion, and  to  do  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  leave  no  doubt  in 
his  mind  that  the  United  States  could  not  remain  an 
idle  looker-on  while  New  Orleans  was  being  bought  and 
sold.  She  had  too  much  at  stake.  Napoleon's  army 
was  getting  ready  to  sail  for  Louisiana.  There  was  no 
time  to  lose. 

Mr.  Livingston  did  not  stop  with  the  suggestion  to  sell 
New  Orleans  to  us.  He  went  further,  and  proposed  the 
cession  of  all  Louisiana  above  the  Arkansas  and  east  of 
the  Mississippi.  He  did  it  with  true  republican  frank- 
ness, never  hesitating  to  press  home  upon  Napoleon's 
advisers  the  dilemma  which  the  possession  of  Louisiana 
must  offer  to  their  choice.  "What  will  you  do  with 
Louisiana?  Would  you  have  England  wrest  it  from 
you?  Her  navies  have  driven  yours  from  the  seas. 
Do  you  wish  to  force  the  United  States  into  joining 
with  England,  against  you?  England  would  gladly 
give  us  what  we  ask,  as  the  price  of  our  help." 

France  was  on  the  eve  of  war  with  England.  But 
for  this  we  should  hardly  have  had  Louisiana  so  easily. 
There  was  no  assurance  felt  that  the  fleet  Napoleon 
destined  for  Louisiana  would  ever  reach  the  Balize. 
Napoleon  wanted  money.  It  was  true,  national  pride 


174  ACQUISITION   OF   LOUISIANA. 

might  be  hurt  by  the  sacrifice,  but  it  was  most  impor- 
tant, at  this  crisis,  not  to  make  an  enemy  of  the  United 
States;  and  Napoleon  foresaw  that  no  foreign  power 
could  long  hold  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  have 
peace  with  those  States.  That  conviction  was  decisive 
in  its  effects.  He  declared  for  the  sale  of  Louisiana, 
outright,  in  these  words :  "  I  will  not  keep  a  possession 
which  would  not  be  safe  in  our  hands,  which  would 
embroil  our  people  with  the  Americans,  or  produce  a 
coldness  between  us.  I  will  make  use  of  it,  on  the 
contrary,  to  attach  them  to  me,  and  embroil  them  with 
the  English,  and  raise  up  against  the  latter,  enemies 
who  will  some  day  avenge  us." 

Napoleon  would  not  even  wait  for  Mr.  Monroe  to 
arrive,  after  making  up  his  mind,  but  sent  at  once  for 
Mr.  Livingston,  and  opened  the  matter  with  him  on 
the  spot.  So  little  had  our  ablest  statesmen,  Mr. 
Livingston  excepted,  touched  the  root  of  the  matter, 
that,  when  Mr.  Monroe  did  come,  with  powers  from 
Congress  to  treat  for  the  cession  of  New  Orleans  and 
the  Floridas  only,  Napoleon  surprised  him  with  this 
master-stroke  of  policy  which  not  even  Mr.  Jefferson 
had  foreseen.  And  thus  a  treaty6  for  the  whole  of 
Louisiana  was  concluded  on  our  part  without  adequate 
powers. 

The  price  agreed  upon  was  eighty  million  francs,  the 
equivalent  of  twenty  million  dollars.  Of  this  sum 
sixty  were  to  be  paid  in  money.  The  remaining  twenty 
were  to  be  retained  by  the  United  States  as  indemnity 
for  damage  done  to  our  commerce  under  the  orders  of 
the  Directory.  In  this  way  the  nation  became  the 
trustee  for  what  is  known  as  the  French  Spoliation 
Fund.  The  principle  was  now  laid  down,  that  free 


ACQUISITION   OF   LOUISIANA.  175 

ships  make  free  goods.  When  they  had  signed  the 
treaty,  the  commissioners  arose  and  shook  each  other's 
hands.  "We  have  lived  long,"  said  Livingston,  "but 
tliis  is  the  noblest  work  of  our  lives."  Mr.  Jefferson's 
efforts  to  bring  about  the  geographical  and  political 
unity  of  the  United  States  were  thus  far  completely 


1  "  MILLIONS  FOR  DEFENCE."    This  view  of  thin  attitude,  the  United  States 

colfl.iah'il  i-fMtiim-nt,  uttered  by  our  rain-  concentrated  troop*  on  the   MissiHwippi 

ister,  Charles  Cotesworth  Pinckuey,  was  with    tin-    intention     of     nei/.ing    New 

echoed  throughout  the  Union.  Orleans.     Kni»la:id  .stood  ready  to  do  the 

*  TllE  RIGHT  OF  DEPOSIT  allowed  same  thing   in   case  of  a  rupture  with 

tin-  landing  and  storing  of  merchandise,  Spain. 

going  to  foreign  markets,  until  t>ucb  time  *    LIVINGSTON,  ROBERT  R.,  one  of 

as  it  could  be  put  on  board  ship.     With-  the  signers   of  the   "Declaration,"  de- 

ont  it,  the  tobacco,  corn,  flour  ami  lumber  serves  the  name  of  the  author  of   Hu- 

nt' the  West  would  have  been  excluded  Louisiana  purchase. 

from  the  markets  of  the  world.  B  TREATY  SIGNED  April    30,  1803; 

3  STATE  OF  CHRONIC  IRRITATION.  sent  to  the  United  States  May  13;  ratified 

I  nc  i  eased  by  Spain's  dilatory  action  in  Oct.  21,  seven  senators  voting  against  it 

settling  our  southern  boundary,  her  re-  on  the  ground  that  the  question  should 

fusal  to  give  up  Natchez,  etc.,  as  pro-  be  first  submitted  to  the  whole  people. 
vided  for  uuder  the  treaty  of  1795.    In 


A   GLANCE   AT   OUR   PURCHASE. 

HITHERTO  Louisiana  has  played  the  part  of  a  foot- 
ball in  European  politics.  The  curtain  is  now  to  rise 
upon  a  far  different  scene. 

For  fifteen  millions  the  United  States  obtained  more 
territory  than  the  original  thirteen  had  started  out 
with. 

As  we  have  shown  in  a  previous  chapter,  our  people 
had  more  than  enough  land  already,  and  few  men  were 
wise  enough,  in  that  day,  to  forecast  our  national  great- 
ness in  the  future ;  but  at  last  the  Mississippi  in  all 
its  course  was  ours,  and  the  one  question  of  highest 


176 


A  GLANCE   AT   OUR   PURCHASE. 


moment  to  the  West  was  settled  in  our  favor,  —  settled 
definitely  and  forever. 

With  what  actual  materials  for  progress,  in  nation- 
building,  did  the  United  States  set  up  her  rule   over 


A  LOUISIANA  SUGAR  PLANTATION. 


Louisiana  ?  The  answer  will  show  what  the  French  and 
Spaniards  had  done  in  two  centuries  or  more  of  inter- 
mittent effort. 

Two  rather  large  towns,  twelve  hundred  miles  apart, 
held  about  one-third  its  whole  population,  and  controlled 


A  GLANCE  AT   OUR  PURCHASE.  177 

all  its  trade.  The  first,  New  Orleans,  was  the  commer- 
cial port  for  the  Mississippi  Valley  and  its  products. 
The  second,  St.  Louis,  was  a  fur-trading  post  with  its 
chief  outlet  in  Canada.  One  had  a  mixed  population 
of  from  eight  thousand  to  ten  thousand,  Frenchmen, 
Spaniards,  Americans  and  blacks ;  the  other  did  not 
have  more  than  twelve  hundred  people,  all  told,  many 
of  whom  were  boatmen,  who  passed  much  of  their 


TRENCH   SETTLEMENTS  :   GERM   OP   ST.   LOUIS. 

lives  afloat  on  the  rivers  or  domesticated  among  roving 
tribes.  In  both,  the  French  were  most  numerous,  but 
taking  all  Louisiana  together,  there  were  nearly,  if 
not  quite,  as  many  slaves  as  white  people,  although,  as 
compared  with  the  Indians  then  occupying  this  vast 
territory,  the  whites  were  only  a  handful. 

At  the  date  of  cession  to  the  United  States,  New 
Orleans  had  perhaps  fourteen  hundred  houses,  mostly 
built  of  wood  and  uniformly  homely.  Two  hours  would 
have  laid  the  whole  of  it  in  ashes.  In  the  best  part, 


178  A   GLANCE   AT   OUR   PURCHASE. 

a  few  houses  were  built  of  brick,  some  one,  some  two 
stories  high,  with  the  open  galleries  running  round  the 
outside,  one  is  accustomed  to  see  in  the  tropics;  yet 
though  it  had  been  burned  over  so  recently  as  1794, 
New  Orleans  was  little  bettered  in  the  rebuilding,  show- 
ing, as  before,  a  collection  of  hurriedly  built  barracks 
and  dwellings,  among  which  the  Hotel  de  Ville  and 
Parochial  Church,  alone,  gave  a  certain  metropolitan 
character  to  this  city  of  wood  and  shingles. 

Though  spacious,  the  streets  were  unpaved,  dirty,  and 
ill-kept.  No  drainage  could  be  had,  and  every  thing 
was  thrown  into  the  street.  Summer  heats  quickly 
developed  epidemic  fevers.  It  followed  that  New 
Orleans  had  the  name  of  being  the  most  unhealthy  city 
in  the  United  States. 

Besides  the  church  and  Hotel  de  Ville,  or  City  Hall, 
there  were  a  military  hospital,  charity  hospital,  and 
nunnery,  —  all  equally  inconspicuous  in  point  of  archi- 
tectural design.  There  was  also  a  theatre  in  which 
a  company,  whom  the  revolt  had  driven  from  St. 
Domingo,  acted  plays  for  the  gratification  of  the  Creole 
population. 

Going  north,  Natchitoches  on  Red  River,  and  Arkan- 
sas Post  on  the  Arkansas,  may  be  considered  outposts 
of  the  country  immediately  dependent  upon  New  Or- 
leans. Each  tapped  the  Indian  trade  of  its  river.  The 
first  was  a  thriving,  the  second  a  poor  village.  We 
next  come  upon  a  group  of  settlements,  constituting 
what  was  known,  under  French  and  Spanish  rule,  as 
Upper  Louisiana,  with  St.  Louis  for  its  emporium. 
Chief  among  these  were  New  Madrid,1  Cape  Girardeau, 
St.  Genevieve,  Carondelet,  and  St.  Charles.  The  popu- 
lation, all  told,  counting  from  the  Arkansas  to  the 


A  GLANCE  AT  OUR  PURCHASE. 


179 


Missouri,  and  including  St.  Louis,  numbered  about  six 
thousand,  of  whom  at  least  a  thousand  were  slaves, 
with  a  sprinkling  of  half-breed  French-Indian  trappers 
besides. 

St.  Louis  had  arisen  out  of  the  transfer  of  the  east 
bank  of  the  Mississippi  to  Great  Britain.  Rather  than 
live  as  aliens,  under  English  laws,  many  French  settlers 


OLD  CONVENT,  NEW  OBLEAN3. 


went  with  Pierre  Laclede,2  across  the  Mississippi,  to  a 
place  already  nicknamed  by  them  Pain  Court,  where, 
in  February,  1764,  they  founded  a  new  town  with  the 
name  of  St.  Louis,  in  honor  of  Louis  XV. 

These  people  were  mostly  French  Canadians,  —  either 
traders,  trappers,  or  voyageurs,  who  still  kept  up  their 
trading  connection  with  Canada, — though  a  sprinkling 
of  Spaniards  and  Americans  became  incorporated  with 
them,  so  making  St.  Louis  a  city  of  many  tongues  like 


180 


A  GLANCE   AT   OUR   PURCHASE. 


8T.  LOUIS  AND   VICINITY. 


A  GLANCE  AT  OUR  PURCHASE.        181 

New  Orleans.  In  both,  an  American  could  fancy  him- 
self in  a  foreign  country,  among  foreigners.  But  while 
New  Orleans  had  grown  up  under  the  worst  conditions, 
in  respect  of  situation  and  climate,  St.  Louis  began  her 
career  under  the  best  of  both.  At  New  Orleans  people 
lived,  as  it  were,  on  a  floating  island  which  the  Missis- 


CHOUTEAU'S   POND,  ST.  LOUIS. 

sippi  might  deluge  with  her  floods.  St.  Louis  was  laid 
out  on  a  spacious  terrace,  elevated  above  the  united 
floods  of  the  Missouri  and  Mississippi.  Besides  its  high 
and  healthy  situation,  the  spot  chosen  by  the  founders 
of  St.  Louis  for  their  future  city  was  the  best  one 
to  be  found  next  south  of  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri 
River.  That  the  whole  Indian  trade  of  the  upper  coun- 
try was  destined  to  be  poured  into  the  lap  of  the  infant 


182        A  GLANCE  AT  OUR  PURCHASE. 

metropolis,  was  early  foreseen  and  soon  realized  by  its 
sagacious  founders. 

Of  St.  Louis  in  its  infancy  we  lack  adequate  descrip- 
tion. It  was  a  palisaded  village  of  the  pattern  so  often 
described  in  these  pages.  During  the  Revolutionary 
War  (1780)  it  withstood  the  assault  of  a  marauding 
party  sent  against  it  from  the  Lakes,  but  lost  some  of  its 
inhabitants  whom  the  enemy  carried  off  into  captivity. 
At  this  time  it 
had  one  hun- 
dred and  twen- 
ty houses  with 
eight  hundred 


ROCK  TOWERS  NEAR  DUBUQUE. 


inhabitants,  who  owned  and  bred  many  cattle.  While 
a  few  houses  were  of  stone,  the  major  part  were  mean, 
and  the  streets  narrow  and  dirty.  With  the  cession 
it  began  to  grow  apace. 

When  Father  Charlevoix,  the  Jesuit  historian  of 
New  France,  descended  the  Mississippi  in  1721,  he 
found  some  miners  at  work  on  the  Meramec,  under 
authority  of  Law's  Company.  While  searching  for 
silver  the  miners  struck  galena  ore  which  from  that 
time  began  to  be  a  source  of  wealth  to  the  province, 


A   GLANCE  AT   OUR  PURCHASE.  183 

the  lead  product  mostly  going  down  the  river  to  New 
Orleans. 

In  that  part  of  the  Louisiana  purchase  comprised 
within  the  States  of  Iowa  and  Minnesota,  the  North-west 
Company3  of  Montreal  continued  to  monopolize  the 
Indian  trade  till  after  the  cession.  It  had  posts  on 
Sandy  Lake  and  Leech  Lake.  Prairie  du  Chien  had 
grown  to  a  hamlet.  Julien  Dubuque,  a  French  trader, 
who  had  first  gone  there  from  Canada,  obtained  permis- 
sion to  work  the  lead-mines  where  the  city  of  Dubuque 
now  stands,  and  had  settled  there. 

i  NEW  MADRID.    Shortly  after  the  miles  up  the  Mlflflouri,  had  been  settled 

Revolutionary  War,  Baron  Steuben  and  by  Blanchette,  1769. 
other  officers  of  rank  obtained  from  the  2  PIERRE  LACLEDE  came  up   from 

Spanish  authorities  of  Louisiana  a  grant  Lower  Louisiana  in  1763  to  start  a  fur- 

of  land  on  which  they  proposed  founding  trade  went  of  the  Mississippi,  going  first 

a  military  colony.    Under  this  authority  to  St.  Genevieve,  subsequently  to  Fort 

New  Madrid  was  laid  out  on  a  great  Chartres.  The  two  brothers  Auguste  and 

scale  in  1790,  by  Colonel  George  Morgan  Pierre  Chouteau  were  with    him.    He 

of  New  Jersey.     The  Spanish  governor  held  a  trading  license  from  the  governor 

Miro,  however,  disconcerted  these  plans  of  Louisiana.  —  Nicollet- Edwards. 
by  building  a  fort  there.    The  place  was  »  NORTH-WEST  COMPANY,  the  great 

nearly  destroyed  by  the  earthquakes  of  rival  of   the    Hudson's  Bay  Company; 

1811-12.     CAPE    GIRARDEAU    and    ST.  formed  by  the  union   (1784)    of    rival 

GENEVIEVE  were  ports  of  shipment  for  interests;     Frobisher    and     McTavish, 

the  lead-mines  of  the  interior.    The  lat-  managers;  did  business  by  the  way  of 

ter  is  called  the  oldest   settlement   in  the  Grand  Portage,  Fond  du  Lac,  Leech 

Missouri  (1755).    ST.  CUABLES,  twenty  Lake,  etc. 


II. 

THE    PATHFINDERS. 


LEWIS   AND   CLARKE   ASCEND   THE    MISSOURI. 

"  To  lose  themselves  In  the  continuous  woods 
Where  rolls  the  Oregon." 

MR.  JEFFERSON  had  never  forgotten  his  talk  with 
^  Leclyard  at  Paris.  It  was  the  key-note  of  future 
projects.  Even  before  Louisiana  was  ours,  he  began  to 
take  steps  for  having  it  explored,  partly  with  the  view 
of  ascertaining  its  real  value,  but  chiefly  to  determine 
whether  the  Missouri  and  Columbia  Rivers  would  afford 
a  practicable  overland  route  for  commerce  with  the 
Pacific.  Should  they  do  so,  the  discovery  of  the  century 
would  be  made.  It  was  the  very  first  step  taken  to 
open  a  road  across  the  continent  under  national  aus- 
pices, and,  as  such,  has  historic  importance,  going  far 
beyond  the  aimless  wanderings  of  a  few  migratory  fur- 
traders,  who,  thus  far,  were  the  sole  geographers  of  this 
interesting  region. 

Except  that  they  took  their  rise  somewhere  in  the 
great  Rocky  Mountain  chain,  next  to  nothing  was  known 
about  the  higher  sources  of  the  Missouri.  Something, 
indeed,  was  learned  from  the  French  traders  who  had 
been  making  canoe  voyages  up  the  Missouri  for  many 
years.  These  adventurers  had  pushed  their  way  into 

184 


LEWIS   AND   CLARKE   ASCEND   THE   MISSOURI.      185 

the  Osage,  the  Kansas,  and  the  Platte.  To  them  we 
owe  the  names  these  streams  bear  to-day,  which  are 
derived,  the  Platte 1  alone  excepted,  from  the  tribes  in- 
habiting their  banks.  For  the  same  reason  the  great 
Missouri2  itself  was  given  this  name  by  the  French 
explorers  because  they  were  ignorant  of  its  existing 
Indian  name. 

From  their  known  activity  and  restlessness  of  char- 
acter, we  should  expect  to  find  evidences  of  the  pres- 
ence of  Frenchmen  everywhere  in  a  re- 
gion they  had  possessed  for  centuries. 
We  do  find  that  the  most  adventur- 
ous had  ascended  not  only  ;t> 
as  the  Yellowstone,3  but  had 
even  found  their  way  into  the 
Black  Hills,  so  establishing 
an  important  landmark  for 
after-comers.  Indeed,  both 
the  Yellowstone  and  the 
Black  Hills  owe  their  names 
to  these  pioneers. 

MOUNTAIN   GOAT. 

But  the  knowledge  thus 

gained  was,  at  best,  little  better  than  what  would  be 
disclosed  by  the  mirage  of  the  prairies  themselves.  It 
was  vague,  mostly  inaccurate,  and  often  quite  upside 
down. 

Therefore,  while  an  occasional  trapper  or  trader 
might  be  met  with  on  the  Missouri,  no  habitation  of 
civilized  man  existed  in  all  its  magnificent  valley,  if  we 
except  the  French  settlements  begun  near  its  mouth. 
This  state  of  things  is  all  the  more  striking  because  it 
comes  within  the  memory  of  living  men. 

Beyond  their  regular  villages,  which  could  be  moved 


186      LEWIS   AND   CLAEKE   ASCEND   THE   MISSOURI. 


at  a  few  hours'  warning,  the  Indians  of  this  valley  had 
no  fixed  habitations,  but  roamed  the  wide,  treeless 
prairies  in  savage  freedom,  like  wandering  Arabs  of  the 
desert,  carrying  their  skin-tents  on  the  backs  of  their 
shaggy  little  ponies  about  with  them  from  camp  to 
camp. 

These  rovers  of  the  prairies  had  the  same  barbaric 
picturesqueness,  the  same  wild  and  free  manners,  the 
same  thieving  propensities,  as  the  Arab.  Like  him, 
the  Indian  of  the  plains  set  the  greatest  value  on  his 

horse,  which, 
though  subdued 
to  his  rider's 
will,  was  yet  as 
untamed  as  he. 
Once  a  year 
the  whole  vil- 
lage struck  its 
tents,  and  start- 
ed off  on  its  an- 
nual buffalo- 
hunt.  On  the  eve  of  departure,  a  solemn  dance  was 
held  and  offerings  made  to  the  god  of  the  chase,  with- 
out whose  help  they  believed  the  hunt  would  be  in 
vain.  Their  hunting  camps  were  pitched  at  some  favor- 
ite spot,  where  grass  grew  and  water  could  be  had. 
Here  they  lived  in  savage  luxury  on  the  buffalo-meat 
which  the  hunters  brought  in  from  the  chase.  When 
enough  meat  had  been  obtained  for  their  winter's  sup- 
ply, they  rode  back  to  their  villages,  and  with  singing 
and  dancing  celebrated  the  success  of  the  hunt.  Thus 
they  hunted,  ate,  slept,  and  waged  continual  war  with 
each  other.  This  was  all  their  life. 


INDIANS   MOVING  CAMP. 


LEWIS   AND   CLARKE  ASCEND   THE   MISSOURI.      187 

Of  the  Columbia  4  nothing  certain  was  known.  More 
was  known,  even  in  America,  about  the  Nile.  It  was 
thought,  however,  that  its  highest  streams  would  be 
found  interlocked  witli  those  of  the  Missouri,  about  the 
feet  of  the  same  great  mountain  chain.  Should  this 
prove  true,  a  practicable  passage  from  one  to  the  other 
through  these  mountains  might  be  discovered ;  yet  while 
nothing  actual  was  known  about  them  the  difficulties 
were  felt  to  be  so  uncommon,  that  none  but  men  of 
tried  courage  would  be  found  equal  to  them.  Clearly 
it  was  to  be  no  holiday  journey.  Just  what  obstacles 
lay  in  the  explorer's  way,  what  means  of  living  the 
country  would  afford,  what  sort  of  people  would  be 
met  with,  were  questions  no  one  had  so  far  attempted 
to  solve. 

Mr.  Jefferson  set  about  solving  them.  He  looked 
about  him  for  the  man  to  do  the  work.  His  first  choice 
fell  upon  his  own  secretary,  Captain  Meriwether  Lewis, 5 
14 of  courage  undaunted,"  at  whose  request  Captain 
William  Clarke  6  was  invited  to  make  one  of  the  party. 
i  larke  accepted  the  offer  with  great  glee.  Both  were 
young  men,  both  had  seen  service  on  the  frontiers,  both 
were  Virginians,  and  both  gave  heart  and  soul  to  the 
enterprise  in  hand. 

Though  its  objects  were  less  scientific  than  political, 
the  young  explorers  were  commanded  to  carefully  note 
down  every  thing  of  interest  about  the  countries  and 
nations  they  were  going  to  pass  through  —  what  were 
the  natural  products  of  the  one,  or  the  numbers,  dis- 
position and  manners  of  the  other. 

It  was  to  be  a  long  voyage  to  begin  with  —  two 
thousand  miles  at  the  least.  The  best  the  Government 
could  do  was  to  provide  a  keel-boat,  fifty-five  feet  long, 


188      LEWIS   AND   CLARKE   ASCEND   THE  MISSOURI. 


drawing  three  feet,  carrying  one  large  square  sail  and 
twenty-two  oars.  A  half  deck  at  bow  and  stern 
formed  forecastle  and  cabin,  the  middle  being  left  open 
for  the  rowers.  This  vessel,  we  see,  was  but  a 'modifica- 
tion of  the  galley  of  ancient  times,  and  quite  like  those 
used  by  the  Spaniards  in  exploring  our  coasts  two 
centuries  before. 

Thus  equipped  the  party  started  down  the  Ohio  on 
their  long  journey  to  the  Pacific. 

The  Spaniards  had  not 
yet  given  up  St.  Louis  to 
us  when  the  expedition 
reached  there,  in  the 
autumn  of  1803.  It  there- 
fore went  into  winter  quar- 
ters on  the  American  bank 
of  the  Mississippi,  opposite 
the  mouth  of  the  Missouri. 
It  was  the  middle  of 
May  before  the  voyage  up 
the  Missouri  could  begin. 
With  sail  and  oars,  the 
deeply  laden  keel-boat  was 
forced  slowly  along  against 

a  swift  yellow  tide,  which  ever  and  anon  hurled  floating 
trees  athwart  its  course,  or  brought  it  to  a  standstill  on 
some  hidden  sand-bar.  Compared  with  it,  the  naviga- 
tion of  the  Ohio  was  but  a  pleasure-trip.  The  Platte, 
however,  was  reached  late  in  July.  Not  far  above,  the 
explorers  landed  to  hold  a  council  with  the  Otoes,  for 
which  reason  they  gave  the  place  the  name  of  Council 
Bluff. 

In  the  last  days  of  October,  1804,  they  halted  for 


A  MANUAN. 


LEWIS    AND   CLARKE   ASCEND   THE  MISSOURI.      189 

the  winter  at  the  Mandan  villages,  sixteen  hundred 
miles  from  the  Mississippi.  So  far  the  journey  had 
been  only  fatiguing.  Its  real  difficulties  were  just 
beginning. 

The  winter  was  spent  in  making  ready  for  the  coming 
season's  work,  in  hunting  and  exploring,  and  in  talks 
with  the  Indians,  from  whom  it  was  now  learned  that 
after  many  days'  journey  toward  the  setting  sun,  the 
white  men  would  come  to  a  gorge  wondrous  deep  and 
wild,  where  the  whole  river  plunged  foaming  down 
with  thunderous  roar.  They  even  spoke  with  venera- 
tion of  the  solitary  eagle  which  had  built  her  nest  in  a 
dead  cottonwood  tree,  among  the  mists  of  the  cataract 
itself. 

With  the  early  spring  (1805)  the  party  again  set 
out  in  good  health  and  spirits.  Before  doing  so  Captain 
Lewis  sent  back  all  but  the  bravest  and  strongest  men, 
as  he  was  now  about  to  enter  a  region  roamed  over 
by  predatory  savages,  whose  friendship  would  be  best 
secured  by  being  always  ready  to  fight  them,  for 
though  brave,  they  would  seldom  attack  a  well-armed 
party  of  whites  unless  the  advantage  was  on  their  own 
side. 

As  they  went  on,  each  day  found  the  navigation  of 
the  river  growing  more  and  more  difficult.  Sometimes 
they  were  forced  to  drag  their  canoes  slowly  along  with 
the  aid  of  towlines,  or  again  to  push  them  over  shallow 
places  or  through  dangerous  rapids  with  poles.  Their 
hunters  kept  them  supplied  with  venison,  bear  and 
buffalo  meat,  which  they  were  now  mostly  to  live  on 
for  months  to  come. 

The  Yellowstone  was  reached  and  passed.  On  the 
26th  of  May  the  party  came  in  sight  of  the  Rocky 


190      LEWIS   AND   CLARKE   ASCEND   THE   MISSOURI. 

Mountains,  —  a  long  line  of  snowy  summits  nestling 
among  clouds.  By  the  end  of  the  month  they  were 
skirting  the,  Black  Hills,  or  Cote  Noire  of  the  French 
traders.  The  river  grew  swifter  now,  and  its  bed 
thickly  sown  with  rocks.  Since  leaving  the  Mandan 
villages  no  permanent  habitations  had  been  seen, 
though  the  travellers  often  came  upon  traces  of  some 
transient  encampment  where  the  ground  would  be 
strewed  with  the  remnants  of  savage  feasts.  While 
the  men  were  wearily  dragging  the  boats  on  at  a  snail's 
pace  through  the  river  shallows,  Captains  Lewis  and 


MANDAN   SKIN-BOATS. 


Clarke  would  be  scouting  the  country  in  advance,  rifle 
in  hand.  Whenever  a  bluff  was  climbed  to  gain  a  wider 
view,  thousands  upon  thousands  of  buffaloes  would  be 
seen  quietly  feeding  on  the  prairies,  far  as  the  eye  could 
reach.  Then  at  the  evening  halt,  round  the  camp-fires, 
the  events  of  the  day  would  be  noted  down,  its  diffi- 
culties talked  over,  and  the  chances  for  the  morrow 
discussed,  over  the  joints  of  venison  or  bear-meat  the 
hunters  had  brought  in.  At  dark  sentinels  were  posted. 
Relaxation  gave  way  to  discipline.  Fresh  logs  were 
thrown  on  the  blazing  fires.  The  men  stretched  them- 
selves on  the  ground  in  their  blankets,  and  soon  forgot 
the  fatigues  of  the  day.  At  dawn  the  camp  was  again 
astir, 


LEWIS    AND    CLARKE   ASCEND    THE   MISSOURI.       191 


1  PLATTB  IB  French  for  low  or  flat.  *  THE  COLUMBIA.    Vancouver    had 
Long  says  it  derives  its  name  from  the  ascended  it   (1792),  one  hundred  miles 
fact  of  being  broad  and  shallow.  from  the  sea. 

2  THE  MISSOURI.    So  says  Charle-  8  CAPTAIN  MERIWETHER  LEWIS,  af 
voix.    Marquette  calls  it  Fekitanoui,  on  terwards  governor  of    Louisiana,  com- 
his  map.    It  was  not  unfrequeutly  called  milted  suicide  in  a  fit  of  depression. 

the  Great  River  of  the  Usages.  •  CAPTAIN  WILLIAM  CLARKE  kept 

8  YELLOWSTONE     is     English     for  a  journal  of  the  expedition.    Brother  of 

Roche   Jaune,  the   old    French   name.  General  George  Rogers  Clarke.    Lewis 

BLACK  HILLS  were  Cdte  Noire.  also  kept  a  diary. 


THEY   CROSS  THE   CONTINENT. 

ON  the  13th  of  June,  while  scouting  in  advance  of 
his  party,  Captain  Lewis  saw,  in  the  distance,  a  thin 
cloudlike  mist  rising  up  out  of  the  plain.  To  him  it 
was  like  the  guiding  column  which  led  the  Israelites 
in  the  desert.  Not  doubting  that  it  was  the  Great  Fall, 
which  the  Mandans  had  told  him  about,  and  of  which 
he  was  in  search,  Captain  Lewis  hastened  toward  it. 
He  soon  heard  it  roar  distinctly,  and  in  a  few  hours 
more  stood  on  the  brink  of  the  cataract  itself.  The 
Indians  had  told  him  trufy.  Not  even  the  eagle's  nest 
was  wanting  to  make  their  description  complete. 

He  was  the  first  white  man  who  had  ever  stood  there, 
and  he  calls  it  a  sublime  sight. 

Thirteen  miles  of  cascades  and  rapids !  At  headlong 
speed  the  Missouri  rushes  down  a  rocky  gorge,  through 
which  it  has  torn  its  way,  now  leaping  over  a  precipice, 
now  lost  to  sight  in  the  depths  of  the  canon,1  a  thousand 
feet  below  the  plain,  or  again,  as  with  recovered  breath, 
breaking  away  from  these  dark  gulfs  into  the  light  of 
day  and  bounding  on  again.  No  wonder  the  discoverer 
stood  forgetful  of  all  else  but  this  wondrous  work  of 
nature ! 


192  THEY   CROSS    THE   CONTINENT. 

Much  valuable  time  was  lost  in  getting  the  boats  and 
baggage  round  these  falls.  To  pass  them  was  impossi- 
ble. It  was  necessary  to  build  carriages  on  which  the 
boats  were  dragged  by  hand  a  distance  of  eighteen 
miles,  before  they  could  be  launched  again. 

But  after  all  this  had  been  done  the  boats  were  found 
unsuited  to  the  navigation  of  the  river  above  them,  and 
so  new  ones  had  to  be  hewed  out  of  the  trees  growing  on 
the  banks,  which  could  better  withstand  the  buffeting 
of  the  rocks.  In  these  the  party  again  embarked,  and 
on  the  19th  of  July  found  themselves  just  entering  a 
deep  gorge  of  the  mountains,  five  miles  long,  through 
which  the  river  wound  its  way  between  walls  of  rock 
that  rose  a  thousand  feet  above  their  heads.  They 
named  this  awful  canon  the  Gate  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains. 

Boat  navigation  was  now  nearly  at  an  end.  Every 
day  the  scouts  were  sent  out  in  search  of  roving  Indians 
from  whom  they  might  get  horses  and  guides  to  cross 
the  mountains.  But  no  Indians  could  be  found.  A 
well-beaten  trail  had  been  followed  high  up  into  the 
hills,  but  lost  again  among  defiles  so  narrow  and  stony, 
that  when  the  scouts  came  back  they  said  no  horseman 
could  go  through  them.  So  these  great  mountains, 
which  so  long  had  been  to  them  a  guide  and  landmark, 
now  seemed  sternly  forbidding  their  farther  progress. 

Yet  at  all  risks  horses  arid  guides  must  be  had.  Tell- 
ing his  men  he  would  not  come  back  till  he  had  found 
them,  Captain  Lewis  set  out  on  his  forlorn  search,  know- 
ing that  on  him  depended  the  success  or  failure  of  the 
expedition.  The  men  remained  encamped  where  he 
left  them.2 

While  engaged  in  this  search,  Captain  Lewis,  on  the 


THEY   CROSS    THE   CONTINENT. 


193 


12th  of  August,  reached  the  highest  source  of  the  Mis- 
souri. At  three  thousand  miles  from  its  mouth  it  dwin- 
dled to  a  mountain  brook.  Passing  thence  over  the 


GATE  OF  THB   ROCKY  MOUNTAINS. 

dividing  ridge,  he  came  upon  the  waters  of  what  proved 
to  be  the  Columbia.  So  within  a  few  hours  he  drank 
of  the  waters  of  both.  Following  the  stream  down  the 
mountain,  with  fresh  hope,  it  led  him  to  a  village  of 
the  Shoshones  or  Snake  Indians.3 


194  THEY   CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 

No  shipwrecked  wanderer  on  an  unknown  sea  ever 
looked  with  more  eagerness  on  a  rescuing  sail  than 
Lewis  did  upon  this  uncouth  and  squalid  habitation 
in  the  wilderness.  The  Indians  would  not  believe  he 
had  crossed  the  mountains  on  foot  and  without  guides. 
At  length,  however,  some  of  them  agreed  to  go  back 
with  him,  and  these  having  found  his  story  true,  horses 
and  guides  were  furnished  for  the  white  men's  use. 

Thus  equipped,  the  party  began  the  passage  of  the 
mountains,  following  the  obscure  windings  of  a  trail 
known  only  to  the  Indians  themselves.  They  found  it 
a  hard  march.  Sometimes  it  led  them  through  a  wild 
canon  strewed  with  stones  for  miles  together.  Some- 
times the  caravan  would  be  painfully  climbing  some 
slippery  height,  or  skirting  the  edge  of  a  precipice  where 
a  single  false  step  would  have  flung  horse  and  rider 
headlong  to  the  bottom  of  the  ravine. 

But  these  active  little  horses,  which  the  Indians  rode 
without  saddle  or  bridle,  unshod  and  ill-fed  as  they 
were,  did  their  work  to  the  admiration  of  the  white  men. 
Though  they  frequently  slipped  and  fell  with  their  bur- 
dens, they  would  quickly  scramble  to  their  feet  again 
with  the  agility  of  mountain  goats. 

Almost  a  month  was  thus  spent  in  getting  through 
the  mountains.  Snow  fell,  and  water  froze  among  those 
rocky  heights.  On  some  days  five  miles  would  be  the 
most  they  could  advance.  On  others  they  could 
scarcely  go  forward  at  all.  The  plenty  they  had  enjoyed 
in  the  plains  gave  way  to  scarcity  or  worse.  Seldom 
could  the  hunters  bring  in  any  thing  but  a  pheasant,  a 
squirrel,  or  a  hawk,  to  men  famishing  with  hunger  and 
worn  down  by  a  hard  day's  tramp.  The  daily  food 
mostly  consisted  of  berries  and  dried  fish,  of'  which 


THEY   CROSS   THE   CONTINENT.  195 

every  man  got  a  mouthful,  but  none  a  full  meal.  When 
a  horse  gave  out  he  was  killed  and  eaten  with  avidity. 
The  men  grew  sick  and  dispirited  under  incessant  labor 
for  which  want  of  nourishing  food  rendered  them  every 
day  more  and  more  incapable.  In  short,  every  suffering 
which  cold,  hunger,  and  fatigue  could  bring,  was  borne 
by  these  explorers. 

Ragged,  half-starved,  and  foot-sore,  but  upheld  by 
the  courage  of  their  leaders,  the  explorers  came  out 
on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains  less  like  conquerors 
than  fugitives. 

Their  guides  led  them  on,  past  many  streams,  till 
they  came  to  one  on  which  they  were  told  they  might 
safely  embark.  It  was  the  Kooskooskee.  This  was 
about  four  hundred  miles  from  the  place  where  they  had 
left  their  boats  on  the  other  side  of  the  mountains. 
They  had  struck  one  of  the  southern  affluents  of  the 
Columbia. 

Here  the  party  built  canoes  in  which  they  began  to 
descend  the  river,  leaving  their  horses  with  the  Nez 
Perec's  Indians  4  to  keep  against  their  return.  In  three 
days  this  stream  led  into  a  larger  one  to  which  they 
gave  the  name  of  Lewis  River.  In  seven,  they  reached 
the  junction  of  a  larger  branch  coming  from  the  north, 
which  they  named  the  Clarke.  They  were  now  fairly 
afloat  upon  the  great  river  itself.  Down  this  they  pad- 
dled till  they  came  to  the  point  where  the  Columbia  in 
a  series  of  mad  leaps  breaks  through  the  lofty  Cascade 
chain.5  These  too  were  safely  passed. 

It  was  now  late  in  October.  All  along  the  explorers 
had  found  camps  pitched  on  the  borders  of  the  rivers, 
for  the  Indians  of  this  region  lived  wholly  on  salmon, 
like  the  tribes  Mackenzie  had  fallen  in  with  on  Frazer 


196  THEY   CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 

River.  Wherever  the  river  was  broken  by  rapids  a 
noted  fishing-place  would  be  found,  so  the  travellers 
were  now  in  a  land  of  plenty  ;  but  the  farther  they  fell 
down,  the  more  squalid  the  Indians  became,  and  of 
meaner  looks  and  stature.  Had  these  people  shown 
themselves  unfriendly,  Lewis  and  Clarke  might  never 


CATCHING  SALMON,   COLUMBIA  KIVEB. 

have  reached  the  ocean,  for  the  valley  was  everywhere 
very  populous. 

Since  leaving  the  cascades,  evidences  of  approach  to 
the  sea  multiplied.  Up  to  that  point  no  fire-arms  had 
been  seen  among  the  Indians.  Many  now  had  guns,  and 
showed  themselves  more  and  more  presuming  toward 
the  white  men.  They  traversed  the  river  in  great  war 
canoes,  having  images  set  up  at  the  stem  and  stern,  like 
the  vikings  of  old.  But  our  men  did  not  fear  them. 
They  were  already  more  than  half  Indians  themselves 


THEY  CROSS  THE  CONTINENT.         197 

in  dress,  looks  and  habits  of  life.  They  had  learned 
to  eat  dog-meat,  and  to  make  their  beds  wherever  the 
night  found  them. 

Soon  the  tides  were  observed.  On  the  7th  of  Novem- 
ber the  roar  of  the  breakers  was  heard  in  the  distance. 
They  had  reached  their  goal  at  last. 

A  most  inhospitable  welcome  awaited  the  explorers. 
They  had  struck  the  coast  in  the  rainy  season.  The 
Hoods  drove  them  from  their  first  camp  oil  the  north 
side,  to  the  south  side  of  the  river,  where  they  set  to 
work  building  themselves  winter  quarters.  The  little 
clump  of  cabins  was  named  Fort  Clatsop,  from  the  tribe 
on  whose  land  it  stood,  with  the  flag  the  explorers  had 
brought  waving  over  it.  Here  the  winter  was  passed. 

In  March,  1806,  the  explorers  began  their  journey 
home.  At  the  Falls  of  the  Columbia  they  bought  horses 
which  took  them  to  the  place  where  their  own  had  been 
left.  From  here  they  travelled  on  an  east  line  through 
the  mountains  till  the  head  of  Clarke's  River  was  struck. 
The  party  was  then  divided.  One  band  under  Lewis 
crossed  the  mountains  to  the  head-waters  of  the  Maria 
River,  while  the  other,  under  the  lead  of  Clarke,  passed 
them  lower  down,  so  reaching  the  sources  of  the  Yellow- 
stone, down  which  they  floated  to  the  place  of  ren- 
dezvous. 

1  CANON.      Spanish    for    ravine   or       when  meeting  a  stranger  and  wishing  to 
gorge;      pronounced,      kan-yon.      The        show  amity. 

word  has  been  naturalized  in  the  West.  *  NEZ  PERCYS,  or    Pierced    Noses, 

2  ENCAMPED  ON  THE  MISSOURI,  at  lived  about  the  waters  of  the  Kooskoos- 
the  head  of  the  Jefferson  River.  kee  and  Lewis,  next  north  of  the  Sho- 

3  SHOSHONES,  or  SNAKES,  occupied  shones. 

the  country  west  of  the  mountains  and  8  CASCADE   MOUNTAINS  take    their 

south  of  the  Salmon  River.  They  had  a  name  from  the  cascades  formed  by  the 
custom  of  taking  off  their  iiiuccutiiiia  Columbia  iu  it*  passage  through  them. 


198  THEY   CROSS   THE   CONTINENT. 

PIKE   EXPLORES  THE   ARKANSAS  VALLEY. 

PIKE'S  PEAK  A    LANDMARK. 

IN  the  course  of  an  expedition  made  to  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  in  the  years  1805  and  1806,  Lieutenant 
Zebulon  M.  Pike 1  had  shown  such  aptitude  for  the 
work  of  an  explorer,  that  he  was  immediately  chosen 
to  lead  another  to  the  sources  of  the  Arkansas.  Pike 
was  directed  to  go  through  the  country  of  the  Osages, 
with  whom  the  Kansas  nation  was  then  at  war,  and, 
after  effecting  a  peace  between  them,  "  to  ascertain  the 
direction,  extent,  and  navigation  of  the  Arkansas  and 
Red  Rivers." 

In  pursuance  of  these  orders  Pike  left  St.  Louis  in 
July,  1806,  for  the  Osage  villages,  in  row-boats  which 
made  about  fifteen  miles  a  day,  his  men  living  on  the 
bears,  deer,  and  turkeys  killed  along  the  banks.  Turn- 
ing into  the  Osage  River,  the  Indian  villages  were 
reached  about  the  middle  of  August,  and  Pike  here 
began  mounting  his  party  for  the  long  land  journey 
before  him. 

Having  accomplished  this,  the  party  set  out  for  the 
Pawnee  villages  on  the  Platte.  Near  the  Grand  Osage 
Village,  Peter  Chouteau,2  a  French  trader,  had  a  trad- 
ing-house, which  was  the  last  sign  of  civilization  the 
explorers  would  see  until  the  Spanish  settlements  of 
New  Mexico  were  reached. 

Tents  were  struck  Sept.  1.  The  exploring  party 
rode  away  in  high  spirits,  accompanied  by  a  numerous 
train  of  warriors  who,  in  this  way,  did  honor  to  those 
whom  they  considered  their  guests. 

After  following  the  Osage  for  some  distance  Pike 


MAP  ILLUSTRATING  LIEUTENANT  PIKE'S  KXPLOBATIONS. 


199 


200       PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS   VALLEY. 


struck  across  the  country  to  the  Neosho,  a  tributary  of 
the  Arkansas.  As  he  rode  on  across  the  dividing  ridge 
the  prairies  of  Kansas  broke  on  his  sight  like  a  scene  of 
enchantment.  He  seemed  discovering  a  corner  of  para- 
dise itself. 

From  the  Neosho,  Pike  passed  over  to  the  Smoky 
Hill  Fork  of  the  Kansas,  and  thence  to  the  Republican, 
meaning  to  proffer  friendship  to  the  Pawnees,  whose 

evil  reputation,  how- 
ever, boded  no  good 
to  his  mission. 

When  he  came  to 
their  villages  the 
Pawnees  had  just 
been  visited  by  an 
embassy  sent  from 
New  Mexico  to  sow 
distrust,  if  not  enmi- 
ty, toward  the  Ameri- 
cans. The  Spaniards 
had  come  with  three 
hundred  men,  by  the 
side  of  whom  Pike's 
twenty-three  looked 

small  indeed,  and  to  the  Pawnees  indicated  the  number 
of  warriors  each  nation  had  at  its  command.  They 
were  therefore  at  no  pains  to  hide  their  disdain. 

Pike  found  them  in  this  temper.  Knowing  it  would 
never  do  to  show  fear,  he  hoisted  his  flag  in  the  chief 
town  to  let  them  see  that  sour  looks  and  uncivil  words 
could  not  turn  him  from  his  purpose  of  making  them 
show  respect  for  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
even  if  they  felt  a  preference  for  the  Spaniards. 


INDIAN  BURIAL-PLACE. 


PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS    VALLEY.        201 

His  mission  in  this  quarter  having  failed,  Pike  turned 
back  to  the  Arkansas,  which  was  reached  on  the  18th 
of  October.  At  this  point  Lieutenant  Wilkinson  was 
sent  down  the  river,  while  Pike  himself  began  the 
work  of  tracing  it  to  its  source.  When  he  had  done 
this,  Pike  meant  to  cross  over  to  the  head  of  Red 
River  and  then  descend  it  to  Natchitoches,  so  complet- 
ing the  work  laid  out  for  him,  which,  we  have  seen, 
was  partly  diplomatic  and  partly  geographical  in  its 
nature ;  for  the  government  wished  to  have  the  natives 
not  only  keep  peace  toward  us,  but  among  themselves. 
So  we  at  least  set  out  in  our  new  purchase  with  a 
sound  Indian  policy. 

Thus  Pike's  explorations  would  take  in  all  the  great 
central  region  lying  between  the  waters  of  the  Red  and 
Platte  Rivers  and  the  Rocky  Mountains,  which  to-day 
is  perhaps  the  most  fertile  aiid  populous  of  all  the 
Great  West. 

But  Pike's  plans  were  doomed  to  meet  failure,  and 
he  himself  to  sufferings  which  a  man  of  weaker  mould 
would  have  sunk  under.  As  it  was,  they  served  to 
bring  out  those  splendid  qualities  which  raised  him 
to  the  rank  of  general  at  the  age  of  thirty-three,  and 
made  his  name  renowned  in  our  military  annals. 

On  the  15th  of  November  he  came  in  sight  of  the 
lofty  Spanish  Peaks.  Soon  the  diminishing  river  he 
was  following  buried  itself  among  the  hills,  where 
it  was  lost  to  view.  Thinking  thus  to  get  a  better 
idea  of  the  country  round  him,  Pike  set  out  on  a 
prospecting  tour,  in  the  course  of  which  he  climbed 
the  elevated  peak  now  so  fitly  bearing  his  own  name, 
and  saw  the  matchless  view  outspread  from  its  sum- 
mit. 


202        PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS   VALLEY. 


Winter  had  now  set  in.  Day  by  day  difficulties 
multiplied.  The  streams  were  frozen  up  or  buried  in 
snow-drifts,  so  that  it  was  next  to  impossible  to  follow 
them  into  the  ravines  which  gave  them  birth.  Where 
to  look  for  the  sources  of  Red  River,  Pike  knew  not. 
Decoyed  among  the  hills,  till  all  bearings  were  lost, 
his  search  for  it  was  in  vain.  Beaten  back,  but  not 
dismayed,  he  then  spent  days  in  trying  to  recover  the 
trail  made  by  the  Spaniards  in  going  from  Santa  Fe*  to 

t        the  Platte.    It  was 

'  obliterated  by  frost 

and  snow.  Baffled 
everywhere,  his 
party  wandered  to 
and  fro  like  lost 
men,  often  without 
food  or  shelter,  but 
directed  and  en- 
couraged to  new 
efforts  by  their  un- 
conquerable leader. 
At  last,  when 
nearly  spent,  the 

party  reached  the  banks  of  a  stream  which  Pike  be- 
lieved to  be  the  one  he  was  in  search  of.  One  can 
hardly  realize  to-day  this  desperate  struggle  for  life 
as  taking  place  among  the  pleasure-grounds  of  Colo- 
rado. 

Men  and  animals  being  broken  down  with  fatigue, 
and  all  in  danger  of  perishing  for  want  of  the  necessa- 
ries of  life,  Pike  resolved  to  send  to  Santa  Fe  for  the 
help  without  which  he  could  not  stir  from  the  place 
where  he  then  was.  Dr.  Robinson  offered  himself  to 


PIKE'S  PEAK. 


PIKE   EXPLORES   THE  ARKANSAS    VALLEY.        203 

go  on  this  errand.  He  was  one  of  the  strongest  men 
of  the  party,  and  second  only  to  Pike  as  a  hunter. 
The  hopes  of  the  explorers  went  with  him.  When  he 
had  gone,  all  who  could  still  work  were  set  to  building 
a  block-house,  for  shelter  or  defence. 

One  day  while  Pike  was  out  hunting,  two  stran- 
gers rode  up  to  him.  They  had  come  from  Santa  Fe*. 
Robinson  had  safely  arrived,  and  would  soon  be  heard 
from.  Feeling  no  mistrust  of  them,  Pike  took  these 
strangers  back  to  his  camp.  To  his  surprise  he  then 
learned  that  he  was  but  two  days'  journey  from 
Santa  FC*. 

These  visitors  had  not  been  gone  many  days  when  a 
squadron  of  Spanish  horse  rode  up  to  the  block-house. 
The  officer  in  command  then  notified  Pike  that  he  was 
encamped  on  the  Rio  Grande,  on  Spanish  ground.  It 
was  now  clear  that  the  first  visitors  were  sent  to  spy 
out  Pike's  place  of  retreat,  while  this  force  followed  on 
to  take  the  Americans  prisoners.  It  also  came  to  light 
that  they  were  suspected  of  having  a  design  to  seize 
the  province  3  of  New  Mexico. 

Pike  went  to  Santa  F6  to  explain  why  he  was 
found  trespassing  on  Spanish  territory,  but  was  held 
as  a  prisoner  with  his  men,  whose  appearance,  as  he 
describes  it,  is  the  best  proof  of  the  hardships  they 
had  undergone  while  lost  in  the  mountains.  He 
says,  — 

"When  we  presented  ourselves  at  Santa  Fe*,  I  was 
dressed  in  a  pair  of  blue  trousers,  moccasins,  blanket- 
coat,  and  a  cap  made  of  scarlet  cloth  lined  with  fox- 
skins,  and  my  poor  fellows  in  leggings,  breech-cloths, 
ind  leather  coats.  There  was  not  a  hat  in  the  whole 
party.  Our  appearance  was  extremely  mortifying  to 


204       PIKE   EXPLORES   THE   ARKANSAS   VALLEY. 

us  all,  especially  as  soldiers ;  and  although  some  of  the 
officers  would  frequently  say  to  me,  that  '  Worth  made 
the  man,'  yet  the  first  impression  made  on  the  ignorant 
is  hard  to  eradicate ;  and  greater  proof  cannot  be 
given  of  the  ignorance  of  the  common  people  here 
than  their  asking  if  we  lived  in  houses,  or  camps  like 
the  Indians,  or  if  we  wore  hats  in  our  country." 

After  a  brief  detention,  the  explorers  were  sent  back 
to  the  United  States,  under  armed  escort,  by  way  of 
El  Paso,  San  Antonio  and  Natchitoches.  Pike's  papers 
were  taken  from  him,  so  depriving  the  world  of  the 
interesting  details  which  at  that  time  were  eagerly 
sought  for,  but  now  had  to  be  supplied  largely  from 
memory. 

At  the  same  time  that  Pike  was  engaged  in  these 
explorations,  parties  were  sent  up  the  Red  and  Washita 
Rivers,  with  the  view  of  enlarging  the  scope  of  his 
undertaking.4 


1  ZEBULON    MONTGOMERY      PIKE,  of  the  party  that  commenced  operations 
born  New  Jersey,  1779.    He  was  killed  here.    In  time  the  brothers  became  the 
while  leading  an  attack  on  York  (Toron-  greatest  fur-traders  of  the  West.    The 
t°)>  Upper  Canada,  in  1813,  having  then  post  among  the  Osages  was  in  charge  of 
reached  the  grade  of  brigadier-general.  Peter,    who     was    subsequently    made 
His  expedition  to  the  upper  Mississippi  United  States  agent  to  that  nation. 

in  1805-6  was  to  take  formal  possession  3  A  DESIGN  TO  SEIZE  THE   PROV- 

of  the  country,  and  to  notify  the  British  INCE.    The  Spanish  authorities  had  been 

intruders  of  the  North  West  Company  warned  to  be  on  their  guard  against  the 

to    leave   it.    Its    objects  were    chiefly  filibustering  expedition  of  Aaron  Burr, 

political  and  military.     At  this  time  Pike  They  thought  Pike's  appearance  on  their 

bought  of  the   Indians   the  ground   on  frontier  part  of  Burr's  scheme,  and  pro- 

which    Fort  Snelling    stands,  the  post  fessed  to  believe  the  exploration  a  cloak 

being  named  lor  Colonel  Josiah  Snelling,  for  hostile  intentions.  Burr's  conspiracy, 

a  distinguished    officer    of    the  United  broadly  speaking,  though   it  forms  an 

States  army.  interesting  episode,  has  no  place  in  the 

2  AUGUSTS  and  PIERRE    (PETER)  plan  of  this  volume.    Its  history,  how- 
CHOUTEAU.     (See  note  2,  "Acquisition  ever,  should  be  read  by  every  student, 
of  Louisiana.")     Founders  of  St.  Louis  *  RED  and  WASHITA  were  explored 
with  Laclede.    Auguste  wad  in  charge  by  Duubar,  Hunter  and  Sibley. 


NEW   MEXICO   IN    1807. 


205 


NEW   MEXICO   IN   1807. 

ALTHOUGH,  in  its  main  objects,  Pike's  expedition  seems 
unfruitful  of  results,  we  owe  to  his  capture  an  interest- 
ing account  of  New  Mexico,  as  he  saw  it  at  that  time. 

"  The  village  of  the  Warm  Springs  or  Aqua  Caliente," 
he  tells  us,  "  at  a  distance  presents  to  the  eye  a  square 
enclosure  of  mud  walls, 
the  houses  forming  the 
wall.  They  are  flat  on 
top,  or  with  very  little 
ascent  on  one  side, 
where  spouts  carry  off 
the  water  of  the  melt- 
ing snow  and  rain, 
when  it  falls,  which, 
we  were  told,  had  been 
but  once  in  two  years. 

"  The  houses  were 
all  of  one  story,  the 
doors  narrow,  the  win- 
dows small,  and  in  one 
or  two  houses  there 
were  talc  lights.  This 
village  had  a  mill  near 
it,  situated  on  the  lit- 
tle creek  of  the  same  name,  which  made  very  good 
flour.  The  population  consisted  of  perhaps  five  hun- 
dred Indians,  civilized,  but  of  much  mixed  blood. 

"  Here  we  had  a  dance  which  is  called  the  fandango, 
but  there  was  one  other,  which  was  copied  from  the 
Mexicans,  and  is  now  danced  in  the  first  societies  of 


THE   YUCCA-TREE  :   SPANISH  BAYONET. 


-Ot>  N    \r  MEXICO  IN  180?. 

New  Spain,  and  has  even  been  introduced  at  the 
of  Madrid, 

"The  greatest  natural  curiosity  is  the  warm  springs* 
of  which  there  are  two,  each  affording  sutVicient  water 
for  a  mill-seat  They  appeared  to  be  impregnated  with 

copJH>l%  and  WON  more  than  oo''  abou'  Mood-heal. 
From  this  village  the  Indians  drove  off  two  thousand 
horses  at  one  time,  whon  at  war  with  the  Spaniards. 

St  John's  (Sau  Juan)  was  also  enclosed  by  a  mud 
wall,  and  p-  contained  one   thousand  souls;    its 

population  also  chiefly  consisted  of  civili/ed  Indians,  as 
indeed  do  all  the  villages  \  V,  \  ->,  the  whites  not 
forming  the  one-twentieth  pjirt  of  the  inhabitants. 

uThe  house-tops  of  this  village,  as  well  as  the  streets, 

were  crowded  when  we  entered  it.  At  the  door  of  the 
public  quarters,  we  wore  met  by  the  priest.  When  the 
officer  in  charge  of  my  escort  dismounted,  and  embraced 
him,  all  the  poor  creatures  who  stood  around  strove  to 
kiss  the  ring  or  hand  of  the  holy  father.  My  men  were 
taken  to  the  quarters  provided  for  them,  and  I  went  to 
the  priest's,  who  offered  me  coffee,  chocolate,  or  what- 
ever else  he  had, and  bid  me  consider  myself  at  home  in 
his  house. 

u  Santa  F4,  the  capital,  is  situated  along  the  banks  of  a 
small  creek,  which  comes  down  from  the  mountains,  ami 
runs  -  >  the  Rio  del  Norte.  Although  it  is  but  three 
streets  in  width,  it  is  about  a  mile  long.  Seen  from  a 
distance,  I  was  struck  with  the  resemblance  to  a  fleet  of 
flat-boats  floating  down  the  Ohio  in  the  spring.  There 
are  two  churches,  whose  tine  steeples  form  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  squalid  appearance  of  the  houses  around  them. 

"In  the  centre  is  the  public  square,  or  plaza,  one  side 
of  which  forms  the  flank  of  the  soldiers'  square,  which 


Ni;\V    MK.Xiro    IN    1H07. 


207 


is  closed  and  in  MmM  degree  «l« •!'•  nded  by  round    i 
in  the  angles,   which   flank   the   four  curtains:  another 
side  of  the  square   j..   formed    by  tin-   palace   of  th«- 
ernor,  his  guard-lr  '<•.     The  third  >ide  j\  occupied 

Ijy  the  jiric-sts  an<l  tln-ir  Miite,  and  tlje  lonrth  \>y  the(')ia- 
j>«'tniu-.s  who  reside  in  the  city.     The  h.,  '-rally 

only  one  ^tnry   lii^h,   with  Hat   roof's,  and    have  a    very 
mean  appearance  on  ti  !«•,  though  some  are  richly 

furnished,  especially  with  plate.     The  supposed  popu- 


CHUBCH,  8AVTA  rfc,   WITH  TOKT  VABCT. 

lation  is  four  thousand  five  hundred  souls.  On  our  en- 
tering the  town,  the  crowd  was  very  great,  and  followed 
us  to  the  government  house.  When  we  dismounted, 
we  were  taken  through  various  rooms,  the  floors  of 
which  were  covered  with  buffalo-robes,  bear-skins,  or 
those  of  other  animals,  to  a  chamber  where  we  waited 
for  some  time,  until  his  excellency  appeared."' 

In  going  down  the  valley  into  Texas,  Pike  gained 
some  insight  into  the  traffic  carried  on  between  Old  and 
New  Mexico,  and  of  its  regulated  movements. 


208  NEW   MEXICO   IN    1807. 

"  We  passed  the  encampment,"  he  continues,  "  of  the 
caravan,  going  out  with  about  fifteen  thousand  sheep 
for  the  other  provinces,  from  which  they  bring  back 
merchandise.  This  expedition  consisted  of  about  three 
hundred  men,  chiefly  citizens,  who  were  escorted  by  an 
officer  and  forty  soldiers.  They  come  together  at  Cibo- 
letta  in  February,  and  separate  there  on  their  return  in 
March.  A  similar  expedition  goes  out  in  the  autumn. 
At  other  times  of  the  year  no  citizen  travels  over  the 
road,  the  couriers  alone  excepted.  At  the  pass  of  the 
Rio  del  Norte,  the  couriers  meet  and  exchange  packets, 
when  each  returns  to  his  own  province.  We  met  a 
caravan  of  fifty  men  and  probably  two  hundred  horses, 
loaded  with  goods  for  New  Mexico. 

"  Saturday  morning,  March  21,  we  arrived  at  the  Paso 
del  Norte,  through  a  mountainous  country.  We  put  up 
at  the  house  of  Don  Francisco  Garcia,  who  is  a  wealthy 
merchant,  and  planter.  He  had,  in  the  neighborhood, 
twenty  thousand  sheep  and  one  thousand  cows.  We 
were  received  in  a  most  hospitable  manner,  by  Don 
Pedro  Roderique  Rey,  the  lieutenant-governor,  and 
Father  Joseph  Prado,  the  vicar  of  the  place.  This  was 
by  far  the  most  flourishing  town  we  had  so  far  been  in." 


COLD   IN   COLORADO. 

A  Trapper's  Story. 

PIKE  found  but  one  American  living  in  Santa  Fe. 
This  man  had  been  a  trapper,  accustomed  to  the  wild 
and  free  life  of  the  plains,  and  this  was  the  story  he 
told. 

James  Pursley  was  a  Kentuckian  who  had  gone  in 


GOLD   IN   COLORADO.  209 

1799  to  St.  Louis,  lured  by  the  thirst  for  adventure  for 
which  men  of  his  rlass  willingly  give  up  all  the  com- 
forts of  civilized  life.  He  was  one  of  those  men  who, 
like  Daniel  Boone,1  thought  it  time  to  move  on  when 
he  could  no  longer  fell  a  tree  so  that  its  top  would  lie 
within  a  few  yards  of  the  door  of  his  cabin. 

So  in  advance  of  the  explorer  comes  the  trapper  of 
the  West,  who,  while  flying  from  civilization,  is  actually 
paving  the  way  for  its  coming  in  spite  of  himself. 

In  1802,  with  two  companions,  Parsley  left  St.  Louis, 
and  travelled  west  to  the  head  of  the  Osage,  where 
they  made  a  successful  hunt.  From  thence  the  trappers 
started  for  the  White  River  of  Arkansas,  meaning  to 
go  down  to  New  Orleans  with  their  peltries,  but  while 
getting  ready  for  the  long  vo}rage  the  Indians  stole 
their  horses  from  them. 

The  hunters  pursued  the  robbers  to  their  villages. 
The  horses  were  there,  but  the  Indians  would  not. 
give  them  up.  Seeing  an  Indian  riding  on  his  horse, 
Parsley  ran  up  to  him,  and  with  his  hunting  knife 
ripped  open  the  horse's  bowels.  The  incensed  savage 
instantly  ran  to  his  lodge  for  his  gun.  It  missed  fire. 
Pursley  then  sprang  upon  him  with  his  drawn  knife  in 
his  hand.  The  Indian  took  refuge  in  a  lodge  filled 
with  children  and  squaws.  The  chiefs  were  so  struck 
with  the  bravery  of  the  "  mad  Americans,"  as  they 
called  them,  that  they  gave  them  back  their  horses 
again. 

Pursley  and  his  comrades  then  returned  to  the  place 
where  they  had  hid  their  peltry,  meaning  to  go  to  St. 
Louis  by  land,  but  when  they  were  near  the  Osage, 
their  horses  were  again  stolen.  Hewing  themselves  a 
canoe  out  of  a  log,  they  paddled  down  the  Osage  with.- 


210  GOLD    IN   COLORADO. 

out  further  misadventure  till  they  came  to  its  mouth, 
when  the  canoe  overset,  and  the  whole  year's  hunt  was 
lost.  They,  however,  managed  to  save  their  powder  and 
guns. 

In  the  Missouri  they  met  a  French  trader  going  up  to 
the  Mandan  country.  Pursley  at  once  engaged  to  go 
with  him  for  the  voyage. 

On  reaching  their  destination,  Pursley  was  sent  out 
on  a  hunting  and  trading  trip  with  some  friendly  Padu- 
cas  and  Kiowas,  they  taking  with  them  a  few  trading 
goods.  In  the  ensuing  spring,  while  hunting  at  the 
sources  of  the  Platte,  they  were  driven  into  the  neigh- 
boring mountains  by  hostile  Sioux.  Pursley  estimated 
their  number  at  two  thousand,  with  ten  thousand  ani- 
mals. Well  was  this  nation  called  the  Scourge  of  the 
Great  Plains ! 

Knowing  themselves  to  be  on  the  borders  of  New 
Mexico,  it  was  decided  that  Pursley,  with  a  few  others, 
should  go  to  Santa  Fe  in  order  to  learn  if  the  Spaniards 
would  give  them  good  treatment  if  they  came  there  to 
trade. 

The  Spanish  governor  having  promised  them  good 
treatment,  the  Indian  deputies  went  back  to  their 
bands,  but  rather  than  again  risk  capture  by  the  cruel 
Sioux,  Pursley  thought  best  to  stay  where  he  was, 
among  a  civilized  people.  He  arrived  at  Santa  Fe*  in 
June,  1805,  and  had  been  following  the  carpenter's 
trade  ever  since.  Lieutenant  Pike  describes  him  as  a 
man  of  strong  natural  sense,  of  dauntless  courage,  and 
the  first  American  who  had  penetrated  so  far  into  the 
wilds  of  Louisiana. 

Among  other  things,  Pursley  told  Lieutenant  Pike 
"  that  he  had  found  gold  on  the  head  waters  of  the 


GOLD   IN   COLORADO.  211 

Platte,  and  had  carried  some  of  the  virgin  ore  about 
with  him  in  his  shot-pouch  for  months ;  but  being  in 
doubt  whether  he  should  ever  again  behold  the  civil- 
ized world,  and  having  wholly  discarded  all  the  ideal 
value  with  which  mankind  has  stamped  that  metal,  he 
threw  the  sample  away ;  that  he  had  imprudently  men- 
tioned it  to  the  Spaniards,  who  had  frequently  impor- 
tuned him  to  go  and  show  them  the  place,  though, 
conceiving  it  to  lie  in  our  territory,  he  had  always  re- 
fused, and  was  fearful  that  his  doing  so  might  prove  an 
obstacle  to  his  leaving  the  country." 

This  man  little  dreamed  that  after  lying  dormant  half 
a  century,  the  discovery  of  which  he  thought  so  little 
would  one  day  be  the  making  of  a  great  State. 

1  DANIEL  BOONE  went  from  Ken-  peal  to  Congress  for  relief,  that  body 
lucky  to  MisHouri  in  1794,  while  it  was  granting  him  one  thousand  arpents  of 
yet  a  Spanish  province.  The  Spanish  land  in  the  District  of  St.  Charles.  In 
governor  allotted  him  ten  thousand  acres  1811  he  was  still  following  the  business 
in  the  District  of  St.  Charlen,  and  :il*o  of  a  trapper.  A  traveller  saw  him  re- 
made him  syndic  of  the  district.  The  turning  home,  at  eighty-four  years  of 
same  want  of  forecast  which  bad  exiled  age,  with  sixty  beaver-skins.  He  was 
him  from  Kentucky  tost  him  this  grant.  then  a  hale  old  man.  Boone  County  and 
In  hia  old  agu  he  was  compelled  to  ap-  Booneviile,  Mo.,  are  named  for  him. 


THE   FLAG   IN  OREGON. 

WE  have  seen  that  Mr.  Jefferson's  plan  for  securing 
the  commerce  of  the  Great  West  needed  two  things  for 
its  success.  One  was  a  road  across  the  continent.  This 
had  been  found.  The  other  want  was  a  port  on  the 
Pacific.  When  this  had  been  met,  not  only  would  the 
resources  of  Louisiana  lie  open  to  East  and  West,  but 
the  way  to  India  be  found,  and  the  unity  of  America 
secured  for  all  time. 


212  THE  FLAG   IN   OREGON. 

As  emigration  was  only  just  beginning  to  cross  the 
Mississippi,  it  scarcely  weighed  in  the  balance  with  com- 
merce, but  was  as  sure  to  follow  it  as  grass  to  grow 
or  water  run. 

Our  Government  having  thus  cleared  the  way,  the  St. 
Louis  traders  were  not  slow  to  avail  themselves  of  it. 
In  1808  they  organized  the  Missouri  Fur  Company, 
which  immediately  sent  an  agent  into  the  coveted  terri- 
tory, where  he  set  up  a  trading-house  known  as  Post 
Henry  on  the  Lewis  River. 

John  Jacob  Astor,  a  merchant  of  New  York,  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  carrying  out  the  whole  scheme  as 
formulated  in  Mr.  Jefferson's  mind,  not  as  a  monopolist, 
protected  by  Government  with  exclusive  privileges,  but 
as  a  private  person,  who  undertakes  an  enterprise  on 
his  own  judgment,  and  backs  it  up  with  his  own  means. 

Mr.  Astor  was  a  shrewd  and  careful  merchant  who 
had  grown  very  wealthy  from  the  profits  of  the  fur- 
trade.  He  had  the  money.  He  knew  the  price  of  a 
beaver  or  an  otter  skin  in  every  market  of  the  world. 
He  had  the  whole  A  B  C  of  commerce  at  his  fingers' 
ends.  Uniformly  successful  in  whatever  he  undertook, 
his  judgment  inspired  confidence  in  others,  as  superior 
business  tact  is  sure  to  do ;  hence  Mr.  Astor  had  no 
difficulty  in  securing  partners  in  his  enterprise.  It  was 
seen  that  the  key  to  success  lay  in  the  hands  of  who- 
ever should  first  occupy  the  rich  fur-bearing  valleys  of 
the  Columbia  River. 

There  was  nothing  niggardly  about  this  princely 
merchant's  preparations,  once  he  had  made  up  his  mind 
to  embark  in  the  adventure.  Every  thing  was  conceived 
on  a  most  liberal  scale,  and  nothing  Avas  left  to  chance. 
One  company  of  agents,  clerks,  and  laborers  was  sent 


THE  FLAG   IN  OREGON.  213 

round  Cape  Horn,  with  orders  to  begin  a  station  at  the 
Columbia  River,  should  they  first  arrive  on  the  ground. 
Another  company,  numbering  sixty  persons,  either 
agents,  trappers,  guides,  or  interpreters,  went  from  St. 
Louis  up  the  Missouri  and  Yellowstone,  and  so  across 
the  great  snowy  range  into  the  Columbia  basin. 

This  was  in  1810.  The  next  year  Mr.  Astor  de- 
spatched a  second  ship  to  the  Columbia  with  further 
supplies  of  men  and  means. 

The  Tonquin,  the  pioneer  ship,  arrived  in  the  Colum- 
bia before  the  overland  party  did.  A  site  was  chosen 
ten  miles  up  the  river,  on  the  south  side,  and  the  work 
of  erecting  a  trading-post  begun  at  once,  so  that  when 
the  advance  of  the  overland  party  reached  it  (January, 
1812),  in  the  utmost  destitution,  they  found  relief 
within  its  walls. 

In  honor  of  its  projector  the  builders  called  their  set- 
tlement Astoria.  Its  history  was  destined  to  be  brief 
but  eventful.  In  the  first  place,  the  rivalry  of  the  Brit- 
ish North-west  Company  soon  made  itself  felt.  Its 
agents  spread  themselves  out  over  the  upper  Columbia 
waters,  so  intercepting  the  Indian  trade.  Then  news 
was  brought  to  the  factory,  of  the  taking  of  the  Ton- 
quin and  massacre  of  her  crew  by  the  Indians,  with 
whom  she  was  trading,  near  the  Straits  of  Fuca. 

The  ship  Beaver,  with  the  third  detachment,  ar- 
rived out  in  May,  1812.  She,  too,  sailed  on  a  trading- 
voyage  up  the  coast.  A  party  was  sent  out  from 
Astoria,  at  this  time,  to  establish  a  trading-post  on  the 
Spokane  River,  which,  with  one  already  begun  at 
Okonagon,  was  the  second  this  company  had  formed 
in  the  interior. 

In  June,  1812,  war  broke  out  between  England  and 


214  THE   FLAG   IN   OREGON. 

the  United  States.  It  was  January  before  the  people  at 
Astoria  heard  of  it.  Finding  themselves  cut  off  from 
help  on  the  one  side,  and  threatened  with  capture  on 
the  other,  Astor's  agents  sold  the  property  to  the  North- 
west Company,  into  whose  hands  it  thus  passed,  not 
without  suspicion  of  collusion  on  the  part  of  the  sellers. 
This  was  in  October,  1813. 

In  this  way  an  enterprise  which  had  been  sagaciously 
planned,  backed  with  abundant  means,  and  had  passed 
through  the  preliminary  stage  of  trial  to  assured  suc- 
cess, came  to  an  inglorious  end  because  the  Govern- 
ment lacked  means  to  protect  it.  And  so  Americans 
were  ousted  from  Oregon,  and  Englishmen  put  in  pos- 
session, which  was  much  like  giving  the  wolf  the  wether 
to  keep. 


LOUISIANA  ADMITTED. 

LOUISIANA  came  into  the  Union  in  1812,  so  making 
it  the  eighteenth  State  in  the  order  of  succession,  as  it 
was  the  first  formed  of  any  portion  of  the  territory 
we  had  acquired  west  of  the  Mississippi.  Louisiana  is 
therefore  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  Great  West. 

Louisiana  came  in  at  the  beginning  of  a  period  of 
strife  and  bloodshed.  England  made  a  most  desperate 
effort  to  seize  New  Orleans,  with  intent  to  obtain,  con- 
trol of  the  Mississippi,  or  at  least  to  gain  a  vantage- 
ground  from  which  she  could  dictate  terms  to  the  United 
States.  The  fortune  of  war,  however,  went  against  her 
in  the  bloodiest  battle  of  the  time.  Peace  was  already 
made  when  it  was  fought,  so  making  the  effort  as  useless 
as  it  was  costly  and  heroic. 


III. 

THE    OREGON    TRAIL. 


THE  TRAPPER,  THE    BACKWOODSMAN,  AND  THE 
EMIGRANT. 

EVER  since  the  expedition  of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  the 
head  waters  of  the  Missouri  had  been  frequented 
by  hunters,  trappers,  and  traders.  These  men  threaded 
every  nook  and  corner  of  the  wilderness  in  pursuit  of  a 
livelihood,  and,  rude  geographers  as  they  were,  the  re- 
motest mountain  solitudes  were  fast  yielding  up  to  them 
the  secrets  they  had  held  since  the  creation  of  the 
world. 

Let  us  begin  with  a  portrait  of  the  trapper  as  drawn 
from  life  by  Mr.  Irving :  — 

"When  the  trade  in  furs  was  chiefly  pursued  about  the  lakes 
and  rivers,  the  expeditions  were  carried  on  in  bateaux  and  canoes. 
The  voyageurs  or  boatmen  were  the  rank  and  file  in  the  service  of 
the  trader,  and  even  the  hardy  men  of  the  North  were  fain  to  be 
paddled  from  point  to  point  of  their  migrations. 

"  A  totally  different  class  has  now  sprung  up,  —  the  « mountain- 
eers,* the  traders  and  trappers  that  scale  the  vast  mountain  chains, 
and  pursue  their  hazardous  vocations  amidst  their  wild  recesses. 
They  move  from  place  to  place  on  horseback.  The  equestrian 
exercises,  therefore,  in  which  they  are  engaged,  the  nature  of  the 
countries  they  traverse,  vast  plains  and  mountains,  seem  to  make 
them  physically  and  mentally  a  more  lively  race  than  the  fur- 
traders  and  trappers  of  former  days.  A  man  who  bestrides  a  horse 

215 


216      TKAtTER,   BACKWOODSMAH,   AND   ti  MIGRANT. 

must  be  essentially  different  from  a  man  who  cowers  in  a  canoe. 
We  find  them,  accordingly,  hardy,  lithe,  vigorous  and  active; 
extravagant  in  word,  in  thought,  and  deed ;  heedless  of  hardship, 
daring  of  danger,  prodigal  of  the  present,  and  thoughtless  of  the 
future. 

"  The  American  trapper  stands  by  himself,  and  is  peerless  for 
the  service  of  the  wilderness.  Drop  him  in  the  midst  of  the  prairie, 
or  in  the  heart  of  the  mountains,  and  he  is  never  at  a  loss.  He 
notices  every  landmark,  can  retrace  his  route  through  the  most 
monotonous  plains  or  the  most  perplexed  labyrinths  of  the  moun- 
tains. No  danger  nor  difficulty  can  appal  him,  and  he  scorns  to 
complain  under  any  privation." 

Behind  the  trapper,  though  it  might  be  at  a  great 
distance,  came  the  backwoodsman.  This  man  was  a 
product  of  American  growth,  of  continued  expansion  of 
territory,  but  never  the  voluntary  agent  of  civilization. 
He  was  more  like  the  foam  blown  from  the  crest  of  its 
ever-advancing  wave. 

The  true  backwoodsman  was  one,  who,  like  Daniel 
Boone,  fled  at  the  approach  of  his  fellow-men.  He  was 
a  recluse  from  choice.  He  has  always  hung  on  to  the 
skirts  of  civilization,  though  he  scorned  to  become 
part  of  it,  or  profit  by  its  advantages  or  comforts. 

This  man  made  a  little  clearing,  built  himself  a  rude 
cabin  of  logs,  and  lived  by  hunting.  When  he  first 
heard  of  a  new  purchase  he  hastened  to  it,  but  as  soon 
as  another  was  made  he  shouldered  his  rifle  and  his 
pack,  and  without  regret  turned  his  back  upon  the 
home  he  had  scarcely  made  habitable  when  this  new  fit 
of  restlessness  sent  him  forth  in  search  of  another.  In 
this  manner,  his  lonely  clearing  made  smooth  the  way 
for  the  coming  settler.  Thus  the  backwoodsman's  life 
was  passed  far  from  the  haunts  of  men.  Free  from  all 
desire  to  better  'his  condition  in  any  ennobling  sense, 


TRAPPER,    BACKWOODSMAN.    AND    EMIGRANT.      217 


he  had  no  higher  aspiration  than  to  live  apart,  no 
thought  of  becoming  an  instrumentality  in  the  hand 
of  progress.  In  his  habits  and  way  of  life  he  was 
more  like  an  Indian  than  a  civilized  being,  for  the  only 
school  he  had  been  educated  in  was  nature's,  and  his 
tastes  or  instincts  led  him  rather  downward  than  up- 
ward in  the  scale  of  human  effort. 

Behind  the   backwoodsman, 
like    the   vanguard  of  an 
army  taking  the  field, 
came  the  emigrant.     <f 
The    tread    of 
his    oxen, 
and  print  of 
his    wagon- 
wheels,    fol- 
lowed close 
in  the  blazed 
footpath    of 
the    depart- 
ing pioneer. 
On   foot  he 
trudged    at 

the  head  of  his  worldly  possessions,  as  light  of  heart  as 
the  birds  singing  in  the  forest  around  him.  In  the 
wagon  his  household  utensils  would  be  stowed  away, 
with  wife  and  little  ones,  while  his  bronzed  and  bare- 
footed boys,  on  foot  and  in  homespun,  drove  the  cows 
and  hogs  along  the  road  behind  it.  At  nightfall  the 
wagon  would  be  drawn  up  by  the  side  of  some  limpid 
brook,  the  animals  turned  loose  to  crop  the  tender 
grass,  while  with  an  armful  of  fagots,  gathered  close  at 
hand,  the  goodwife  was  soon  busy  cooking  a  frugal 


AS   EMIGRANT'S  CAJCP. 


218      TRAPPER,   BACKWOODSMAN,    AND   EMIGRANT. 

supper  of  bacon  and  potatoes,  over  the  embers  of  their 
camp-fire.  In  this  way  the  emigrant  sometimes  trav- 
elled week  after  week,  and  month  after  month,  before 
finding  a  place  of  abode  to  suit  him. 

This  man  had  come  to  stay.  When  he  had  found  a 
situation  to  his  mind,  he  set  about  felling  trees  for  his 
cabin.  On  the  Missouri,  where  the  first  settlers  chiefly 
came  from  Tennessee  and  Kentucky,  this  dwelling  was 
usually  two  houses,  built  a  little  apart  from  each  other, 
each  containing  but  one  room,  and  joined  together  only 
by  the  roof,  so  leaving  an  opening  in  the  centre,  where 
the  family  usually  sat  in  the  heat  of  the  day.  The 
chimneys  were  built  of  sticks,  plastered  with  clay,  and 
stood  at  the  outside  of  the  building,  as  the  fashion  is 
in  the  Southern  States.  There  was  little  difference  be- 
tween the  dwellings  of  rich  and  poor.  In  these  humble 
abodes  the  first  generation  grew  up  to  man's  estate  to 
find  themselves  to-day  the  founders  of  an  empire. 

Unlike  the  backwoodsman,  the  settler  had  come  to 
better  his  condition,  —  to  grow  up  with  the  country, 
not  abandon  it  with  the  first  token  of  progress.  Here 
he  lived  content.  He  broke  up  his  forty  acres  of 
prairie  land,  fenced  and  planted  it,  and  from  its  fertility 
soon  reaped  an  abundant  harvest  of  corn  and  potatoes, 
which  with  his  swine  and  poultry,  furnished  more  than 
food  enough  for  his  wants.  Though  the  comforts  of  life 
were  scarcely  attainable  in  a  wilderness,  he  had  the 
necessaries,  and  could  say,  with  our  gracious  poet,  to 
the  dweller  in  cities, — 

"  How  canst  thou  walk  in  these  streets,  who  hast  trod  the  green  turf 

of  the  prairies  ? 
How  canst  thou  breathe  in  this  air,  who  hast  breathed  the  sweet  ah* 

of  the  mountains  ?  " 


LONG  EXPLORES  THE   PLATTE   VALLEY.  219 


LONG   EXPLORES  THE   PLATTE   VALLEY. 

FROM  the  summit  of  Pike's  Peak,  Pike,  the  explorer, 
had  looked  down  upon  regions  watered  by  four  great 
rivers,  —  the  Platte,1  Arkansas,  Rio  Grande  and  Colo- 
rado. Into  those  dark  gorges  he  had  recklessly  plunged. 
But  he  had  scarcely  done  more  than  confirm  the  position 
of  the  great  landmark,  which  nature  has  placed  at  the 
head  of  these  great  rivers. 

War  with  England  had  put  a  stop  to  exploration  for 
a  time,  but  with  peace  it  was  determined  to  know  if  the 
Platte  would  not  afford  a  better  route  than  the  round- 
about one  Lewis  and  Clarke  had  followed  to  the  Pacific. 
It  was  thought  depressions  might  exist  where  this  river 
issued  from  the  mountains,  so  giving  access  to  the  coun- 
try on  the  other  side,  by  a  way  less  formidable  to  the 
traveller  than  had  yet  been  found. 

With  this  object  in  view,  Major  Long 2  was  sent  to 
the  Missouri  in  1819  by  President  Monroe.  As  he  was 
a  man  of  scientific  attainments,  a  more  thorough  and 
critical  report  was  expected  from  him  than  his  prede- 
cessors had  so  far  furnished. 

Long's  journey  marks  a  distinct  era  in  the  ways 
of  travel;  for  while  Pike  had  used  row-boats,  Long 
ascended  the  Missouri  in  a  steamboat  built  for  the 
purpose  at  Pittsburg,  and  named  the  "Western  En- 
gineer." In  this  vessel  he  made  the  voyage  to  Council 
Bluffs. 

In  going  up  the  Missouri,  Long  found  the  most  pop- 
ulous settlements  growing  up  in  the  neighborhood  of 
St.  Charles,  in  what  is  now  Callaway  County,  and  in 
that  part  lying  between  the  Osage  and  Chariton. 


220          LONG   EXPLOKES    TFTK    PL  ATT!-:    VALLEY. 


MAP   SilOWiixU  LONU'SJ  EXPLORATIONS. 


LONG  EXPLORES  THE  PLATTE  VALLEY.     221 

Above  the  Chariton  only  a  horse-path,  called  a  trace, 
led  northward  to  Council  Bluffs. 

In  all  these  primitive  settlements  superior  wealth 
would  be  indicated  by  the  number  and  size  of  the  corn- 
cribs,  smoke-houses,  etc.,  but  nothing  resembling  the 
barn  found  on  every  farm  in  the  Northern  States  entered 
into  the  make-up  of  these  frontier  homesteads. 

After  spending  the  winter  in  camp  near  Council 
Bluffs,  Long  passed  on  his  way  into  the  Platte,  to  the 
village  of  the  Otoe  nation,  situated  about  forty  miles 
above  the  confluence  of  the  Platte  with  the  Missouri. 
Going  thence  he  entered  the  Pawnee  country,  finding 
there  a  more  friendly  welcome  than  Pike  had  met  with, 
but,  like  him,  getting  an  impression  of  savage  chivalry 
and  independence,  the  like  of  which  he  had  found  no- 
where else.  The  braves  of  this  nation  hung  out  their 
war-shields  in  the  village  streets,  as  the  cavaliers  of  old 
were  accustomed  to  dis- 
play theirs  before  their 
tents,  so  that  every  passer- 
by might  know  who  the 
occupant  was  by  his  de- 
vice. 

Long's     party     turned 
down  the  South  Fork  of 

PRAIRIE-DOG  VILLAGE. 

the   Platte,   and   reached 

the  mountains  in  July,  1820,  after  making  a  journey 

of  nearly  a  thousand  miles  since  leaving  the  Missouri. 

In  one  place  this  traveller  has  noted  down  how  they 
had  passed  by  a  large  and  uncommonly  beautiful  vil- 
lage of  the  prairie  marmot,  covering  a  grassy  plain  of 
about  a  mile  square.  As  they  came  toward  it,  this  spot 
happened  to  be  covered  with  a  herd  of  some  thousands 


222 


LONG  EXPLORES  THE  PLATTE  VALLEY. 


of  bisons.  On  the  left  were  a  number  of  wild  horses, 
and  immediately  in  front  twenty  or  thirty  antelopes, 
and  about  half  as  many  deer.  As  it  was  near  sunset  the 
light  fell  obliquely  upon  the  grass,  giving  an  additional 
brilliancy  to  its  dark  verdure.  The  little  inhabitants 
of  the  village  were  seen  running  playfully  about  in  all 
directions,  and  when  the  travellers  got  near  them,  they 
sat  erect  on  their  burrows,  and  gave  a  short,  sharp  bark 
of  alarm. 

A  scene  of  this  kind  comprised  most  of  what  was 
beautiful  and  interesting  to  the  passing  traveller  in  the 

..  j  wide  un varie d 
plains  of  the 
Missouri  and 
Arkansas. 

Before  leav- 
ing this  inter- 
esting region, 
Dr.  James,  the 
botanist  and 
historian  o  f 
the  expedi- 
tion, ascended  the  high  mountain  now  known  as  Long's 
Peak  (July  13).  Turning  south,  Long's  party  soon 
struck  the  waters  of  the  Arkansas,  near  Pike's  Peak, 
from  whose  summits  they  saw  the  great  plain  they  had 
crossed,  "  rising  as  it  receded  until  it  appeared  to  mingle 
with  the  sky." 

From  this  point,  the  explorers  descended  the  valleys 
of  the  Arkansas  and  its  largest  tributary,  the  Canadian, 
to  Fort  Smith,  and  from  thence  through  the  growing 
settlements  of  the  territory,3  to  the  Mississippi,  visiting, 
by  the  way,  the  famous  Hot  Springs  of  the  Washita. 


DIGGING  IN   TIIE   RIVEK-BED   FOK   WATEU. 


LONG  EXPLORES  THE  PLATTE  VALLEY. 


223 


The  upper  waters  of  the  Arkansas  and  Platte  were 
reported  by  them  to  lie  in  sandy  wastes  unfit  for  occu- 
pation by  civilized  man.  Often  the  explorers  would 
have  to  dig  in  the  bed  of  the  river  to  get  water,  while 
the  arid  appearance  of  every  thing  around,  caused  by  the 
disappearance  of  the  rivers*  beneath  their  own  sands, 
the  want  of  wood  and  absence  of  game,  stamped  the 
whole  region  as  one  on  which  nature  had  set  the  seal 
of  perpetual  barrenness  and  desolation. 

The  sum  of  these  discoveries  had  traced  out,  as  it 
were,  the  larger  veins  through  which  emigration,  the 
life-blood  of  the  country,  was  ultimately  to  flow. 


1  THK  PLATTE  was  called  Nebraska 
by  the  Otoes,  whence  comes  the  name  of 
the  State  in  which  it  chiefly  lies.  Some 
authorities  make  the  Indian  word  mean 
the  same  thing  as  the  French,  or  flat  and 
shallow,  which  describes  it  well. 

-  MAJOR  STEPHEN  HARRIMAN 
LONG  had  been  assistant  professor  of 
mathematics  at  West  Point.  He  after- 
wards (1823-24)  explored  the  Upper  Mis- 
sissippi. Journal  of  the  first  expedition 
published  in  1823,  of  the  second  1824. 

9  ARKANSAS  TERRITORY  was 
formed  in  1819,  capital  LITTLE  ROCK, 
then  a  village  built  on  a  bluff  near  the 
beginning  of  the  hilly  region.  The  name 
comes  from  a  rock  in  the  river  exposed 
at  low  water.  FORT  SMITH  was  a  new 
military  post.  Other  settlements  were 
scattered  along  the  Arkansas  from  the 
White  River  Cut-off  to  Belle  Point,  and 


on  Red  River  as  far  as  the  Eiamesha. 
Though  numerous,  Long  says  all  were 
email.  Besides  these,  the  CHEROKEES 
were  also  forming  settlements  on  the 
Arkansas  about  Cadron,  which  Long 
often  found  superior,  in  respect  of  the 
comforts  of  life,  to  those  of  the  whites. 
These  people  were  the  vanguard  of  their 
nation,  to  which  Government  had  ceded 
lands  in  Arkansas  Territory,  and  was  re- 
moving from  Georgia  beyond  the  Missis- 
sippi. They  owned  black  slaves,  the 
same  as  the  whites.  They  raised  con- 
siderable cotton,  which  they  wove  into 
cloth  for  their  own  use. 

4  DISAPPEARANCE  OP  THE  RIVERS. 
Long's  party  travelled  more  than  a 
hundred  miles  along  the  dry  bed  of  the 
Arkansas  without  once  seeing  water. 
Of  course  they  hastened  on  through  this 
desert  with  all  speed. 


MISSOURI,  AND  THE  COMPROMISE  OF  1821. 

FAR  back,  when  the  original  States  were  yet  colonies, 
and  while  the  people  of  Massachusetts  were  solemnly 
deliberating  how  to  deliver  themselves  from  oppression, 


224       MISSOURI,   AND   THE   COMPROMISE .  OF    1821. 

a  letter  was  read  to  the  body  to  whom  this  grave  ques* 
tion  had  been  committed,  asking  it  to  consider  the  state 
of  the  negro  slaves  in  the  province. 

These  men  had  just  said  they  were  called  rebels  be- 
cause they  would  not  be  slaves.  The  dilemma  was  thus 
presented  to  them,  either  to  make  good  their  declara- 
tion, or  limit  its  application  to  themselves.  After  some 
debate  the  matter  was  dropped,  but  the  plea  for  a  prin- 
ciple had  been  uttered,  the  appeal  to  men's  consciences 
taken,  and  as  some  secret  cause,  working  beneath  the 
waters,  gives  notice  of  the  agitation  below  by  sending 
up  bubbles  to  the  surface,  so  this  question  of  slavery 
continued  at  intervals  to  prick  the  conscience  of  the 
people,  and  confront  them  at  every  turn  with  its 
warning. 

The  North  had  got  rid  of  slavery.  It  had  done  more. 
Its  voice  had  excluded  slavery  from  the  great  North- 
West.  But  the  South  owed  its  growth  to  slave  labor, 
and  wherever  her  people  went  to  found  new  States  they 
carried  their  slaves  with  them.  It  was  inevitable,  that, 
whenever  free  and  slave  labor  should  meet  on  the  same 
ground,  a  conflict  must  arise  between  them,  though 
statesmen  were  anxious  to  avert  the  coming  on  of  strife 
as  long  as  possible.  . 

It  is  hard  to  stay  the  march  of  events,  or  confute  the 
logic  of  time.  Even  as  far  back  as  the  beginning  of 
the  Union,  men  had  foreseen  the  coming  storm,  with 
foreboding,  yet  these  men  were  no  wiser  than  the  Massa- 
chusetts men  of  1774;  for  at  the  time  of  the  Union 
slavery  might  have  been  so  restricted  that  it  would 
eventually  have  died  out  in  the  land,  or  a  way  provided 
for  the  gradual  emancipation  of  the  blacks.  Such  steps 
were  indeed  talked  of,  but  not  consummated.  So  the 


MISSOURI,   AND   THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1821.       225 

nation  was  allowed  to  drift  on,  and  the  two  opposing 
systems  were  left  to  work  out  their  own  results. 

In  1819  Missouri  asked  for  admission  into  the  Union. 
Her  doing  so,  with  a  constitution  recognizing  slavery, 
proved  a  rock  of  danger  to  the  Republic,  the  wisest 
statesmen  found  it  hard  to  steer  clear  of.  It  provoked 
violent  opposition  at  the  North,  and  equally  vehement 
support  in  the  South.  Under  French  rule  the  people 
of  the  nascent  State  held  slaves.  Those  who  had  since 
come  in  were  mostly  from  slaveholding  States,  and 
wanted  to  have  slavery  recognized  as  part  of  their 
social  and  political  system. 

They  demanded  this,  not  as  a  privilege,  but  as  a  right 
guaranteed  to  them  by  the  Constitution  itself,  in  which 
property  in  slaves  was  distinctly  recognized.  So  they 
stood  firm  for  what  they  considered  their  rights,  defend- 
ing slavery  from  the  charge  of  immorality,  or  inhumanity 
of  man  to  man,  as  men  would  the  most  righteous  cause. 

The  North  contended,  broadly,  that  slavery  was  a 
crime,  discountenanced  by  Christian  people  and  enlight- 
ened thought  everywhere,  of  which  the  nation  should 
purge  itself.  It  was  said  that  the  idea  of  a  nation  being 
free,  when  it  countenanced  holding  men  in  bondage, 
was  a  mockery  of  freedom.  Many  construed  the  ordi- 
nance of  1787  to  have  forbidden,  if  not  in  its  letter,  at 
least  in  spirit,  the  formation  of  slave  States  out  of  newly 
acquired  territory.  But  these  men  did  not  propose  to 
interfere  with  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  already 
existed. 

Around  these  two  differing  ideas  the  men  of  the  North 
and  South  clustered  themselves.  Underlying  all,  and 
governing  all,  was  the  conviction  that  a  check  to  the 
extension  of  slavery  meant  a  check  to  the  political 


226       MISSOURI,   AND   THE   COMPROMISE   OF   1821. 

power  of  the  South  itself.  This  view  made  the  South 
a  unit,  while  in  the  North  public  sentiment  was  divided, 
for  many  there  deprecated  agitation  of  the  question,  as 
the  entering  wedge  which  should  split  the  Republic 
asunder. 

When,  therefore,  Congress  took  up  the  bill  for  the 
admission  of  Missouri,  the  opponents  of  slavery  met  it 
with  the  condition  that  no  slaves  should  afterward  be 
brought  into  the  new  State,  while  all  children,  born 
in  it  subsequent  to  its  admission,  should  be  free  at  the 
age  of  twenty-five  years.  In  time  this  condition  would 
have  made  Missouri  a  free  State. 

The  matter  was  hotly  debated.  Of  the  twenty-two 
States  then  constituting  the  Union,  ten  were  slave 
States.  Two  ominous  phrases  began  to  be  heard.  One 
was  "  State  rights,"  the  other  "  Balance  of  power."  In 
the  violence  of  party  strife,  patriotism  was  lost  sight  of. 

The  House  of  Representatives  refused  to  admit  Mis- 
souri without  the  condition ;  the  Senate  refused  to  do 
so  with  it.  So  Missouri  was  not  admitted  at  this  time. 

With  the  two  houses  thus  divided,  it  was  apparent 
that  no  new  State  could  be  admitted,  since  the  Southern 
party,  having  control  of  the  Senate,  would  not  vote  to 
admit  a  free  State  so  long  as  Missouri  was  kept  out, 
and  Maine  was  then  ready  to  come  in  as  a  free  State. 

As  neither  party  would  yield,  the  more  moderate,  or 
timid,  men  of  each  tried  to  find  some  intermediate 
ground  where  the  factions  could  come  together,  each 
giving  up  something  for  the  sake  of  restoring  harmony 
to  the  country.  Finally  a  settlement  was  reached. 
Maine  came  in  a  free  State.  Missouri  was  admitted 
with  slavery,  but  with  the  restriction  attached  that  her 
southern  boundary  should  thenceforward  be  the  limit 


MISSOURI,   AND   THE   COMPROMISE   OF    1821.       227 

north  of  which  no  new  slave  States  should  be  formed. 
Thus  the  line  between  freedom  and  slavery  was  first 
strictly  drawn  on  the  parallel  of  36°  30',  but  with  a 
slave  State  above  it.  The  first  battle  between  the  two 
warring  systems  had  been  fought,  and  slavery  had  won. 
The  North  had  got  a  line,  but  the  South  had  won 
a  State. 


ARKANSAS   ADMITTED   1836. 

ARKANSAS  was  admitted  into  the  Union  in  1836,  as 
a  slave  State,  retaining  the  name  it  had  been  given 
as  a  Territory,  when  formed  from  the  Louisiana  pur- 
chase,—  a  name  originating  with  the  once  powerful 
nation  Marque tte  found  seated  on  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi.  Thus  three  slave  States  had  been  made 
out  of  French  Louisiana. 


THOMAS   H.   BENTON'S   IDEA. 

"  There  is  the  East !    There  lies  the  road  to  India." 

LAWYER,  soldier  and  politician,  but  not  yet  a  states- 
man, Thomas  H.  Benton  went  from  Tennessee  to 
Missouri  after  the  war  with  England  was  over.  Though 
St.  Louis  was  yet  only  a  large  village,  it  was  the 
focus  of  the  activities  of  the  Great  West.  Mr.  Benton 
saw  it  was  the  place  for  a  rising  man  to  grow  up  in, 
and  accordingly  he  settled  there. 

In  St.  Louis  Mr.  Benton  found  an  aristocracy  of  fur- 
traders,  whose  attachment  for  their  own  usages  and  old 
form  of  government  bound  them  together.  They  kept 
their  own  language  and  manners.  With  many  it  was 


228  THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA. 

a  point  of  honor  never  to  learn  English  at  all.  In  all 
things  they  were  as  distinctively  French  as  the  French 
people  of  Canada  are  to-day.  Thus  this  scion  of  refine- 
ment had  been  grafted  on  a  rude  frontier  life,  but 
would  not  assimilate  with  the  coarser  elements  thrown 
upon  it  by  emigration  from  the  States. 

By  the  side  of  this  middle-class  (bourgeois)  aristocracy 
stood  the  Catholic  clergy,  with  its  traditions  of  the  old 
regime  in  Canada,  its  proud  record  of  discovery  and 
missionary  work  among  the  barbarians  of  these  Western 
wilds,  whose  every  stream  and  fountain  had  its  story 
of  zeal  and  heroism  to  tell. 

This  was  society  at  the  core.  The  clergy  was  its  rock 
of  support.  Boys  were  taught  in  the  parish  school,  and 
girls  in  a  nunnery.  So  education  was  as  much  in  the 
keeping  of  the  Church  as  religion  itself.  Nations  may 
change,  but  the  Roman  Church  never  abandons  its 
people  or  its  objects. 

Around  this  foundation  was  grouped  the  community 
of  French  Creoles,  whom  the  great  fur  companies  em- 
ployed and  who  were  their  dependants.  And  around 
them  clustered  again  an  increasing  population  of  Ameri- 
can adventurers,  coming  mostly  from  the  Southern 
States  in  search  of  a  living,  for  whom  St.  Louis  was 
the  magnet  which  attracts  to  itself  the  scattered  atoms 
of  society  far  and  near. 

Outside  of  St.  Louis,  Missouri  owed  her  rapid  growth 
to  the  in-coming  of  actual  settlers.  In  1816  only  thirty 
families  were  found  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Missouri, 
above  Callaway  County.  In  three  years  the  number 
had  increased  to  eight  hundred  families.  Here  was 
the  real  bone  and  sinew  of  the  State. 

Mr.  Benton  found  the  American  Fur-Trading  Com- 


THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA. 


229 


pany  sending  forth  its  yearly  caravans  over  the  great 
plains  to  the  mountains,  and  from  the  mountains, 
through  passes  known  only  to  the  Indians  and  fur- 
traders,  into  Sonora,  New  Mexico  and  Oregon.  Since 
the  way  was  beset  by  hostile  Indians,  these  caravans 
went  armed  to  the  teeth.  The  same  Indians  might 
fight  them  one  day  and  trade  the  next.  In  time,  the 
passing  to  and  fro  of  these  traders  had 
marked  out  well-beaten  paths  up  the 
Arkansas  and  the  Platte,  which  pres- 
ently came  to  be  known  on  the  fron- 
tier as  the  Santa  F£  Trail  and  Oregon 
Trail.1 

At  bottom  the  St.  Louis  fur-traders 
were  not  more  friendly  to  colonization 
than  the  English  fur-traders,  but  they 
were  quite  as  eager  to  push  their  busi- 
ness into  Oregon,  conceiving  they  had 
the  best  right  there,  as  the  English 
companies  were  to  keep  them  out  of 
it  so  that  they  themselves  might  reap 
all  the  profit ;  and  so  there  was  rivalry 
and  ill  blood  between  them. 

Mr.  Benton  was  energetic,  ambitious 
and  self-reliant,  qualities  which  soon  identified  him  with 
the  thought  and  interests  of  the  people  among  whom 
he  had  cast  in  his  lot  in  life.  Thoroughly  Southern  in 
his  feelings,  he  had  borne  an  active  part  in  making 
Missouri  a  slave  State,  and  when  that  result  was  accom- 
plished the  people  sent  him  to  the  United  States  Senate 
as  a  reward  for  his  zeal  in  their  behalf. 

When  the  war  with  England  was  over,  our  Govern- 
ment wished  to  have  the  boundary  between  our  own 


STATUE   OP  BENTON. 


230  THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA. 

and  the  British  possessions  defined  and  settled.  Though 
proposed  to  be  run  on  the  forty-ninth  parallel  it  had 
never  been  done,  and  in  buying  Louisiana  we  inherited 
a  dispute  which,  so  long  as  that  vast  region  was  unex- 
plored and  unknown,  had  slept,  but  was  now  become  a 
source  of  irritation  and  danger  between  England  and 
the  United  States.  The  Columbia  River  and  its  basin  2 
were  the  bone  of  contention.  Both  wanted  them. 
Neither  would  give  them  up.  Since  Astoria  3  had  been 
sold,  the  Hudson's  Bay  and  North-west  Companies  had 
held  uninterrupted  possession  of  the  whole  country,  to 
the  exclusion  of  our  own  ships  and  traders,  whose 
interests  had  suffered  in  consequence ;  but  as  England 
would  not  yield  her  pretensions  peaceably,  the  people 
of  the  Atlantic  coast  were  unwilling  to  go  to  war 
about  a  region  so  remote,  the  more  so  because  they 
were  just  recovering  from  the  effects  of  the  one  lately 
ended,  and  felt  that  they  would  be  the  greatest  sufferers 
if  war  again  broke  out  between  the  two  nations. 

So  the  two  countries  compromised  their  differences 
by  agreeing  to  hold  Oregon  in  common,  first  for  ten 
years  (1818-1828),  and  afterward  from  year  to  year. 
All  this  time  England  was  growing  stronger  in  Oregon, 
and  the  United  States  losing  the  hold  her  citizens 
had  first  obtained  there,  for  though  it  was  neutral 
ground  on  paper,  the  English  with  their  free  access 
by  land  and  sea  were  able  to  shut  out  our  traders,  and 
did  so. 

This  state  of  things  was  humiliating  to  the  West. 
Tt  was  as  though  the  nation  were  eating  humble-pie 
rather  than  offend  England.  Continual  agitation  of 
the  question  served  to  keep  up  a  feverish  feeling  about 
Oregon,  but  since  Major  Long  had  said  it  was  of  no 


THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA.  231 

use  to  think  of  cultivating  the  land  between  the 
meridian  of  Council  Bluffs  and  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
it  seemed  settled  that  nobody  but  fur-traders  would 
want  to  cross  this  desert  while  so  much  fertile  land 
remained  vacant  in  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Val- 
leys. If  settlement  must  stop  at  the  edge  of  this 
desert,  then  the  idea  of  geographical  unity  vanished, 
and  Oregon  would,  in  truth,  be  worth  little  to  us. 
Mr.  Benton,  himself,  was  at  one  time  of  this  opinion. 

So  when  Mr.  Benton  wanted  the  Government  to  take 
Oregon  with  an  armed  force,  he  was  told  it  was  not 
worth  the  trouble,  for  Oregon  could  never  become  a 
State  if  we  did. 

There  was  another  element  to  the  dispute,  which 
found  much  favor  in  the  West.  This  was  Mr.  Monroe's 
declaration  that  no  European  power  would  be  allowed 
to  subdue  or  overturn  the  independent  governments 
of  our  continent.  This  was  a  notice  to  England  that 
she  could  not  have  Oregon.  It  has  since  been  known 
as  the  Monroe  Doctrine,4  and  so  Mr.  Monroe  became 
the  author  of  a  national  policy. 

Mr.  Benton  mastered  all  the  details  of  the  vexatious 
Oregon  question.  The  interests  of  his  constituents 
were  at  stake.  His  patriotism  was  aroused.  He  felt 
equal  disgust  with  the  artifices  by  which  England  kept 
us  out  of  Oregon,  as  with  the  cautious  spirit  of  the 
East,  which  counted  the  cost  of  every  thing  before- 
hand, less,  it  seemed  to  him,  in  the  spirit  of  statesman- 
ship, than  for  what  it  would  be  worth  at  the  present 
moment. 

It  should  not  be  forgotten,  however,  that  New  Eng- 
land enterprise  had  first  made  known  the  resources  of 
our  possessions  on  the  Pacific. 


232  THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA. 

In  fine,  Mr.  Benton  made  himself  the  champion  of 
the  growing  West.  He  had  already  become,  in  a  sense, 
the  trustee  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  pet  scheme  of  a  great 
overland  highway  to  India,  which,  indeed,  proved  too 
great  for  the  time  that  wise  man  lived  in,  but  only 
waited  for  the  people  to  grow  up  to  it.  Mr.  Benton 
knew  from  Mr.  Jefferson's  own  lips  what  results  had 
been  hoped  for,  but  not  realized,  —  how  the  best-laid 
plans  had  been  thwarted,  or  suffered  to  sleep  the  sleep 
of  oblivion,  —  and  the  Missouri  senator  had  gone  away 
from  his  memorable  interview  more  than  ever  impressed 
with  the  greatness  of  the  mission  he  was  henceforth  to 
take  upon  himself  as  Mr.  Jefferson's  disciple. 

England  managed,  in  one  or  another  way,  to  delay 
a  settlement  just  forty-nine  years.  A  few  Americans 
had  gone  into  Oregon,  but  as  yet  they  were  only  a 
handful.  In  1832  Captain  Bonneville5  took  the  first 
wagon  train  across  the  Wind  River  chain  into  the 
Green  River  Valley,  thus  proving  the  mountains  were 
practicable  for  vehicles.  The  same  year  Nathaniel  J. 
Wj^eth  6  led  a  party  all  the  way  from  New  England  to 
Fort  Vancouver,  after  a  journey  lasting  seven  months, 
in  which  some  of  his  men  were  killed  by  the  Blackfeet. 
In  1834  and  1835  some  American  missionaries 7  were 
sent  out  to  Oregon,  one  of  whom,  Marcus  Whitman, 
was  to  figure  largely  in  its  history.  In  the  following 
year  Dr.  Whitman  went  through  to  Fort  Walla  Walla 
with  a  wagon,  thus  doing  what  had  been  declared 
impossible.  Yet  up  to  the  close  of  1841  not  quite  a 
hundred  and  fifty  Americans,  in  all,  had  settled  in 
Oregon,  though  the  Oregon  Trail  was  largely  shorn  of 
its  terrors  by  the  intrepidity  of  these  real  pathfinders. 
For  his  part,  Dr.  Whitman  saw  clearly,  that,  since 


THOMAS  H.  BENTON'S  IDEA. 


233 


diplomacy  was  purposely  hindering  it,  emigration  must 
step  in  and  settle  the  question  who  should  have  Oregon. 
And  Dr.  Whitman  was  not  only  a  man  of  clear  sight, 
but  of  action. 


>  SANTA  Ffc  TRAIL  and  OREGON 
TRAIL.  Independence  was  long  the  far- 
thest white  settlement  in  Missouri,  and 
consequently  became  the  starting  point. 
So  f;ir  the  MiHrtouri  River  could  be  fol- 
lowed. Bee  map.  Westport,  and  finally 
Kansas  City,  grew  from  this  cause.  A* 
settlements  extended  up  the  river,  the 
main  trails  were  struck  from  many 
point*,  as  Fort  Leavenworth,  81.  Joseph, 
Council  Bluffs,  etc.,  — like  trunk  roads 
with  many  brunches. 

*  TUB  COLUMBIA  AND  ITS  BASIN. 
England  claimed  that  Drake  and  Cook 
had  first  discovered  and  taken  possession 
of  Oregon,  which  then  included  the  pres- 
ent Oregon,  Idaho,  Washington  and  part 
of  Montana.  In  1671  Saint  Lusson,  at 
Sault  Ste.  Marie,  had  taken  possession  of 
all  the  country  west  to  the  South  Sea 
for  France.  (See  preceding  chapters.) 
Whatever  right*  France  acquired  be- 
came ours  by  purchase  from  her.  But 
Spain  had  the  better  title  on  the  Pacific. 
She,  however,  relinquished  to  us,  on  the 
cession  of  the  Floridos,  in  1819,  all  north 
of  42°,  the  present  north  line  of  Cali 
lornia.  We  thus  became  possessed  of 
all  rights  either  power  had  laid  claim  to 
north  of  that  parallel.  The  north  bound- 
ary, between  IxHiisiana  and  the  British 
Possessions,  was  supposed  to  be  fixed  by 


the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  (1713)  at  the  forty, 
ninth  degree. 

*  ASTORIA  was  restored  to  us  (1818), 
after  much  wrangling,    but   the    Hud- 
son's   Bay    Company   established    Fort 
Vancouver,  ninety  miles  up  the  Colum- 
bia, BO  cutting  off  Astoria  from  the  upper 
v;i'.U-y.    It  was  burnt  to  the  ground  in 
1821,  except  a  few  huts. 

4  THE  MONROE  DOCTRINE.  "The 
American  Continents,  by  the  free  and 
independent  condition  they  have  assumed 
and  maintain,  are  not  to  be  considered 
as  subjects  for  colonization  by  European 
powers." 

6  CAPTAIN    BONNEVILLE'S     adven- 
tures are  related  by  Washington  Irving. 

•  NATHANIEL. I.  WYETH  established 
Fort  Hall  on  Lewis  River,  in  what  is  now 
Idaho.    The  Hudson's  Bay  Company  at 
once  set  up  a  rival  post  called  Kort  Boise 
below  it,  so  compelling  Wyeth  to  sell 
out  to  it  or  be  ruined  by  its  competition. 

7  THESE  MISSIONARIES  were  Revs. 
Jason  and  Daniel  Lee  sent  by  the  Meth- 
odist denomination,  and   Revs.  Samuel 
Parker  and  Marcus  Whitman  sent  by  the 
American  Board.    The  Methodist  mis- 
sion was  at    the    Dalles,  the    other  at 
Walla  Walla.    This  was  the  first  intro 
duction  of  Protestant  missions  among 
the  Oregon  tribes. 


WITH  THE  VANGUARD  TO  OREGON. 

"  This  army  does  not  retreat  1" 

EMIGRATION  was  to  be  our  army  of  occupation  in 
Oregon.  In  this  conviction  Mr.  Benton  was  looking 
about  him  for  the  means  to  set  it  in  motion,  when  he 


234      WITH  THE  VANGUARD  TO  OREGON. 

chanced  to  meet  Lieutenant  John  C.  Fremont,  of  the 
topographical  engineers,  who  had  just  returned  from 
surveying  the  Upper  Mississippi,  with  Nicollet.1 

Mr.  Benton  wanted  the  Oregon  route  surveyed  in 
aid  of  emigration  to  the  Lower  Columbia.  The  sub- 
ject led  to  an  intimacy  between  the  two  men,  in  the 
course  of  which  Fremont  fell  in  love  with  Mr.  Benton's 
daughter  Jessie,  whom  a  little  later  he  married,  so 
uniting  his  fortunes  with  the  distinguished  senator's 
family,  as  well  as  his  plans. 

It  resulted  in  sending  Fremont  (1842)  to  find  cNut 
whether  the  South  Pass 2  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  the 
usual  crossing-place,  would  best  accommodate  the  com 
ing  emigration. 

This  was  the  very  first  step  taken  by  our  Govern- 
ment in  aid  of  emigration  to  Oregon.  Hitherto  it  had 
reflected  the  prevailing  belief  in  the  worthlessness  of 
Oregon  for  any  such  purpose.  We  were,  at  this  time, 
thick  in  the  dispute  with  England  about  the  boundary, 
and  so  the  expedition  was  rather  assented  to,  in  defer- 
ence to  Western  men,  than  authorized  as  a  Government 
measure. 

St.  Louis  is  no  longer  to  be  considered  as  a  starting- 
point  for  the  mountains.  Already  this  had  gone  three 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  west.  Fremont's  journey  there- 
fore began  at  the  little  village  of  Kansas,3  now  a  city 
larger  than  any  then  existing  west  of  the  Alleghanies, 
but  then  only  a  landing  for  Chouteau's  trading-post, 
ten  miles  up  the  Kansas  River.  From  this  place,  early 
in  June,  Fremont's  party  set  out  for  the  mountains. 
Kit  Carson  of  Taos,  a  famous  hunter,  was  their  guide. 

For  most  of  the  way  Fremont's  wagons  only  followed 
in  the  track  of  those  that  had  gone  before  them,  some- 


WITH   THE  VANGUARD   TO   OREGON. 


235 


times  with  guides,  but  oftener  without  them.  The  road 
was  plain,  and  led  over  ground  where  vehicles  pass  every- 
where with  ease,  except  when  gullies  or  streams  cross 
their  path.  So  Fremont's  men  journeyed  on  quite  at 
their  ease.  At  nightfall  the  wagons  were  drawn 
together  in  a  circle,  thus  forming  an  enclosed  and 
barricaded  camp,  in  which  the  travellers  pitched  their 
tents. 

Fremont  went  up  the  Kansas  valley  as  far  as  the 
Big  Blue,  crossing  thence  over  to  the  Platte,  which  was 
now  to  be  his 
guide  for  the 
rest  of  his  jour- 
ney. 

Now  and  then 
Fremont  would 
come  across  the 
abandoned  cam i > 
of  some  Ore- 
gon emigrants, 
who  thus  seemed  piloting  him  on,  instead  of  he  them. 

At  the  forks  of  the  Platte  the  party  was  divided, 
Fremont  himself  going  down  the  South  Fork,  to  St. 
Vrain's  Fort,4  while  the  rest  kept  on  up  the  North 
Fork,  to  Fort  Laramie,5  where  Fremont  presently 
joined  them  again. 

When  firewood  grew  scarce  the  men  would  have  to 
make  their  fires  of  dried  buffalo-dung,  as  the  Arabs  of 
the  desert  do  with  that  of  the  camel. 

At  Laramie,  Fremont  learned  that  the  mountains 
beyond  swarmed  with  Indians,  who  were  out  on  the 
war-path,  and  had  declared  the  road  shut  to  the  whites. 
But  Fremont  went  on  to  the  South  Pass,  which  was 


FORT  LARAMIE. 


236      WITH  THE  VANGUARD  TO  OREGON. 

found  to  rise  by  so  gradual  an  ascent  that  the  explor- 
ing party  hardly  knew  when  they  had  reached  its 
summit. 

In  the  valley  beyond  this  pass,  the  explorers  rested. 
Before  turning  back,  Fremont  himself,  with  a  few 
others,  made  their  way  into  the  mountains  and  up  to 
the  summit  of  the  high  peak  now  known  by  his  name, 
which  rose,  the  monarch  of  all  in  this  region,  13,570 
feet  above  the  sea.  In  this  way  the  three  greatest 
landmarks  of  the  Rockies  make  memorable  the  names 
of  three  explorers,  Pike,  Long  and  Fremont. 

While  Fremont  did  little  that  had  not  been  done 
already,  his  careful  record  of  distances,  fords,  camping- 
places  where  grass,  wood  and  water  could  be  had,  was 
just  what  outgoing  emigrants  needed  to  know,  and  so, 
immediately,  they  began  to  go  forward  with  confidence. 
It  was  besides  a  token  that  Government  had  taken 
hold  of  the  matter  at  last,  and  would,  it  was  thought, 
now  foster  and  protect  the  emigration. 

Fremont  said  it  would  be  necessary  to  have  perma- 
nent military  posts  at  Laramie,  St.  Vrain's  and  Bent's 
Fort,  to  keep  the  Indians  from  killing  our  people,  as 
they  passed  through  their  country.  Until  this  should 
be  done  the  road  could  not  be  called  safe.  But  he  did 
the  most  for  emigration  in  correcting  the  popular  error 
about  the  barrenness  of  the  great  plains,  to  which 
Major  Long  gave  currency,  and  which  everybody  to  this 
time  had  believed.  He  showed  that  where  the  buffalo 
roamed  in  such  vast  herds,  and  found  food,  could  not  be 
a  desert,  for  the  wild  grass  they  lived  on  would  cer- 
tainly keep  the  emigrants'  cattle,  while  no  man  need 
starve  in  the  midst  of  such  abundance  of  wild  game 
as  constantly  roved  these  plains  before  their  eyes.  It 


WITH   THE    VANGUARD   TO   OREGON. 


237 


was  much  to  have  all  these  things  set  down  in  an 
orderly  manner  by  some  friendly  hand,  and  with  the 
seal  of  Government  authority.  Fremont  did  this  as  it 
had  not  been  done  before. 

Fremont's  first  expedition  met  with  such  favor  that 
he  was  immediately  sent  on  a  second  (1843),  and 
much  more  important  one.  This  time  he  was  to  begin 
at  the  South  Pass,  and  go  through  the  Lower  Columbia 
country.  He  was  well  on  his 
way  when  the  War  Depart- 
ment suddenly  recalled 
him  to  Washington, 
but  Mrs.  Fremont 
took  the  responsi- 
bility of  suppress- 
ing the  order 
until  the  ex- 
plorer was  too 
far  off  for  it  to 
reach  him. 

At  the  mo- 
ment of  start- 
ing from  the 
Missouri,  Fremont  met  a  large  party  of  emigrants  who 
were  going  to  California  under  the  lead  of  J.  B.  Childs. 
This  party  took  with  them  that  modern  civilizing  en- 
gine, a  saw-mill,  ready  to  be  put  up  on  reaching  the 
Sacramento.  As  Fremont  moved  west,  trains  of  wagons 
were  seldom  out  of  sight.  The  great  march  had  begun 
in  earnest. 

Fremont  decided  to  explore  the  mountains  in  the 
neighborhood  of  St.  Vrain's  Fort  to  see  if  they  would 
afford  a  practicable  passage  on  a  more  direct  east-and- 


AMOLE,  OB  SOAP-PLANT  OF  THE   PLAINS. 


238      WITH  THE  VANGUARD  TO  OREGON. 

west  line  than  the  old  way  up  the  Platte.  He  therefore 
struck  into  them,  north  of  Long's  Peak,  and  by  follow- 
ing the  Cache-a-la-Poudre 6  River  came  out  on  the 
other  side,  where  his  journey  of  the  previous  year  had 
ended.  From  here  he  passed  on  into  the  valley  of 
Bear  River,  and  so  on  to  the  Great  Salt  Lake,7  which 
he  also  explored. 

From  Salt  Lake,  Fremont  went  north  to  the  Hudson's 
Bay  Company's  post  at  Fort  Hall,  striking  the  Oregon 
Trail  again  by  the  way.  The  explorers  divided  here, 
part  going  back  to  the  States  and  part  down  the 
river  with  Fremont.  Fort  Boise*  8  they  found  was  only 
an  ordinary  dwelling-house.  Going  on  they  next  came 
to  the  mission  Dr.  Whitman  had  founded  among  the 
Nez  Percys,  near  Walla  Walla.  It  then  consisted  of 
but  one  adobe  house,  though  more  were  going  up 
around  it.  Its  cornfields  and  potato-patches,  which 
Dr.  Whitman  had  cleared  and  planted,  were  a  pleasant 
sight  to  men  worn  down  with  travel  and  fasting,  but 
not  more  so  to  Fremont  than  the  little  colony  of  emi- 
grants now  collected  here  after  their  long  march  of 
two  thousand  miles,  — men,  women  and  children, — all 
in  robust  health,  and  all  regaling  themselves  with  Dr. 
Whitman's  potatoes. 

Fort  Walla  Walla  marks  an  important  strategic  point 
in  the  early  movement  of  emigration  to  Oregon.  Situ- 
ated only  nine  miles  below  the  junction  of  the  two 
great  branches  of  the  Columbia,  it  was  thus  also 
planted  at  the  meeting  of  two  great  trans-continental 
routes  of  travel,  one  coming  from  the  United  States  by 
way  of  the  South  Pass,  the  other  from  Hudson's  Bay 
by  way  of  Lake  Athabasca  and  the  mountain  passes 
near  it.  For  such  of  the  emigrants  as  chose  to  go  on 


WITH   THE   VANGUARD   TO   OREGON.  239 

by  water,  Walla  Walla  was  the  end  of  their  long  over- 
land journey.  Fremont  found  a  large  body  of  emi- 
grants, under  the  lead  of  Mr.  Jesse  Applegate,  building 
bateaux  here  to  go  down  the  river  in. 

But  the  British  trading-post  lay  on  a  sandy  plain, 
where  scarce  a  blade  of  grass  or  a  shrub  grew.  Dr. 
Whitman  had  chosen  a  pleasant  and  fertile  nook,  not 
far  from  the  fort,  where  emigrants  might  recruit  them- 
selves among  friends;  for  at  the  fort  itself  every 
effort  was  made  to  turn  them  back  or  send  them  into 
California.  Thus  everywhere,  except  at  the  missions, 
emigrants  found  this  Oregon  Trail  a  hard  road  to 
travel,  for  our  Government  left  them  to  the  mercy  of 
the  Hudson's  Bay  Company's  agents,  who  hindered  them 
in  every  way,  or  failing  to  stop  them,  charged  ex- 
orbitantly for  every  tiling  furnished. 

Finding  emigration  would  increase  in  spite  of  them, 
this  company  chose  to  save  itself  by  bringing  in  British 
emigrants  from  the  Red  River  of  the  North.  It  meant 
to  occupy  the  best  lands,  as  it  had  the  best  trading 
sites.  The  first  colony  was  on  the  Upper  Columbia 
when  Dr.  Whitman  heard  of  it.  If  Oregon  were  to  be 
saved  to  us,  there  was  not  a  moment  to  lose.  He 
instantly  started  for  Washington  with  the  news  of  this 
threatened  invasion. 

Dr.  Whitman's  ride  to  St.  Louis,  by  way  of  Santa 
F6,  will  ever  be  memorable  in  the  annals  of  Oregon,  as 
well  for  its  perils  as  for  what  it  accomplished.  He 
found  our  Government  had  just  signed  the  Ashburton 
Treaty,9  by  which  Oregon  was  still  left  out  in  the  cold, 
without  a  boundary  or  the  protection  of  our  laws  or  flag. 
His  great  energy,  however,  enabled  him  to  get  together 
on  the  frontier  an  emigrants'  train  of  two  hundred 


240  WITH  THE   VANGUARD   TO   OREGON. 

wagons  with  which,  as  the  leader  of  an  army,  he 
started  back  in  the  spring.  It  was  these  people  whom 
Fremont  had  seen  setting  out,  had  tracked  a  thousand 
miles  on  their  way,  and  finally  come  up  with  at  their 
journey's  end.  As  the  Government  would  not  lead,  it 
now  had  to  follow  the  people's  grand  march  for  the 
Pacific. 

With  fresh  horses  Fremont  pushed  on  down  the 
left  bank  of  the  Columbia  to  the  Dalles,  Mount  Hood 
towering  in  the  distance.  Here  the  whole  river  rushes 
through  a  long  and  narrow  trough  of  rock,  with  so 
swift  a  tide  that  in  the  season  of  high  water  boats  can- 
not stem  it. 

A  few  miles  below,  Fremont  emerged  from  the  sterile 
and  inhospitable  region  through  which  he  had  been 
travelling,  upon  a  green  spot  in  the  valley,  where, 
among  groves  of  noble  forest-trees,  the  Methodist  mis- 
sion had  reared  its  two  dwellings,  its  one  schbolhouse, 
and  its  barn,  cleared  ground  for  planting,  gathered  to 
it  a  colony  of  Indians  for  instruction  in  the  ways  and 
religion  of  the  whites,  and  so  dropped  in  the  wilder- 
ness the  seed  of  Christian  civilization. 

From  the  Dalles,  Fremont  sailed  down  the  river  to 
Vancouver,  finding  here  still  more  emigrants,  most  of 
whom  were  waiting  to  cross  over  into  the  fertile 
Willamette  Valley,  which  was  then  fcheir  land  of 
promise. 

At  this  point  Fremont's  journey  ended.  His  explora- 
tions had  now  connected  with  surveys  conducted  by 
Captain  Wilkes  from  the  Pacific  coast.  Fremont 
therefore  turned  homeward  again,  taking  with  him  the 
most  exact  knowledge  of  the  country  traversed,  so  far 
obtained. 


WITH   THE   VANGUARD   TO   OREGON. 


241 


'  J.  NICOLAS  NICOLLET  had  first  es 
tablished  the  sources  of  the  Mississippi. 
He  had  returned  from  exploring  a  con- 
siderable part  of  Minnesota  and  Da 
koto. 

1  THE  SOUTH  PASS  cuts  the  south 
part  of  the  Wind  River  chain. 

3  KANSAS  CITY  took  its  name  thus 
early  from  its  neighborhood  to  the  Kan- 
sas River  (though  in  Missouri),  which 
has  led  many  to  suppose  it  10  in  Kansas. 

*  ST.  VRAIN'S  FORT,  a  fur-trading 
post,  in  communication  with   Santa  Fe 
by  way  of  Taos.     Under  the  mountain*, 
seventeen  miles  east  of  Long's  IV.ik. 

*  FORT    LARAMIE,   first  called  Fort 
William    (Subletle),    built     by    Robert 
Campbell  about  1835,  since  named  from 
the  Laramie  Fork,  near  which  it  stands. 
Its  walls  were  ranges  of  adobe  house*,  in 
the  Spanish  style,  with  bastions  at  the 
corners.    The  house  tops  or  roof  formed 
a  banquette,  on  which,  again,  was  set  a 
row  of  palisades. 

BENT'S  FORT,  on  the  Arkansas,  ea- 


tablished  by  Charles  Bent,  was  the  third 
of  these  remote  posts,  for  which  the 
above  description  will  suffice. 

8  CACHE-A-LA-POUDRE.  French,  hid- 
ing-place for  the  powder. 

7  SALT  LAKE  was  known  to  early 
Spanish  explorers  (see  p.  37) ;  had  been 
often  visited,  but  not  explored.  Ashley 
of  Missouri,  who  led  a  party  of  trappers 
to  the  heads  of  the  Colorado  in  1823, 
built  the  next  year  a  troding-hou 
Salt  Lake  See  also  Bonneville's  account. 
Fremont's  explorations  disclosed  the  ex 
isU-nce  of  a  Kivat  interior  basin  between 
the  Rockies  ami  Sierra  Nevada,  whose 
waters  fall  into  Utah  and  Salt  Lakes  in- 
stead of  reaching  the  Columbia  or 
Colorado. 

•  FORT  BOIS&.  French,  meaning 
wooded. 

»  ASHBURTON  TREATY  settled  our 
north-eastern  boundary  with  England, 
and  carried  the  parallel  49*  to  the  Rocky 
Mountain*,  but  not  beyond.  In  1846  a 
second  treaty  carried  it  to  the  Pacific. 


TEXAS   ADMITTED. 

MEXICO  threw  off  her  allegiance  to  Spain  in  1821. 
Not  till  then  did  the  Spaniards  in  Mexico  abandon 
their  policy  of  excluding  all  foreigners  from  their  soil ; 
but  the  example  set  them  by  the  United  States,  with 
the  feeling  born  of  freedom  from  the  Spanish  yoke, 
brought  about  a  change  of  policy  in  this  regard,  and 
Americans  were  invited  to  settle  in  Texas  on  the  most 
generous  terms.  No  stronger  instance  is  found  of  the 
influence  exerted  by  free  institutions  from  without  upon 
the  hereditary  prejudices  of  a  whole  people.  It  con- 
fessed a  failure  nobly. 

When  Texas  was  thus  thrown  open  to  emigration 
her  settlements  were  few  and  scattered.  Habitual 


242 


TEXAS    ADMITTED. 


timidity  or  indolence  had  restricted  them  to  the  neigh- 
borhood of  fortified  posts  or  missions.1  The  chief  ones 
were  San  Antonio,  Goliad,  Refugio  and  Nacodoches, 
and  around  these  small  parcels  of  land  had  been  brought 
under  cultivation.  But  the  missions  themselves,  which 
had  formed  the  groundwork  of  Spanish  occupation, 
were  fallen  into  irremediable  decay.  The  Indians  who 
had  been  gathered  into  them  by  the  monks  had  dwin- 


dled away  until  the  mis- 
sions were  mostly  de- 
populated. Here,  as  in 
California,  experience  had  shown  that  the  natives  could 
not  exist  under  the  shadow  of  the  whites.  Civilization 
wasted  them  away. 

To  induce  settlers  to  come  into  Texas,  they  were 
offered  exemption  from  all  taxes  for  the  space  of  ten 
years. 

Among  the  first  to  avail  themselves  of  these  offers 
was  Stephen  F.  Austin,  of  Durham,  Conn.  Acting 
under  a  grant  of  lands  made  by  the  Mexican  authorities 
to  his  father,  Austin  began  a  settlement  on  the  Brazos  in 


TEXAS    ADMITTED.  243 

1821,  which  later  became  the  capital  of  the  State,  of 
which  he  was  the  foremost  founder. 

Emigration  poured  in  from  the  Lower  Mississippi 
Valley,  —  from  Louisiana,  Arkansas,  and  Mississippi,  — 
and  even  the  older  States  contributed  to  swell  the  tide. 
The  law  forbade  slavery,  but  many  brought  negroes  with 
them  and  held  them  in  spite  of  it.  Many  were  adven- 
turers who  held  luw  in  little  estimation,  or  found  in 
Texas  a  convenient  asylum  from  the  pursuit  of  their 
creditors.  Others  were  poor  people  whom  the  liberal 
offers  of  the  Mexican  Government  lured  from  their 
homes  in  the  hope  of  bettering  their  condition.  Though 
sound  at  the  heart,  in  no  long  time  Texas  had  won  for 
itself  an  unenviable  name  throughout  the  Union  as  the 
chosen  home  of  lawless  men,  through  its  worst  elements 
rising  to  the  top. 

Our  Government  had  long  coveted  Texas,  and  had 
made  two  unsuccessful  attempts  to  buy  it  of  Mexico,  con- 
sidering it  as  an  integral  part  of  Old  Louisiana,  to  which 
we  had  a  sort  of  right  by  the  prior  discovery  of  La  Salle. 

Texas,  which  the  Spaniards  had  weakly  settled  and 
feebly  governed,  declared  herself  independent  of  Mexico 
in  1835.  When  this  revolt  took  place  there  were  more 
Americans  than  people  of  Spanish  blood  in  Texas,  so 
bringing  over  to  the  Texan  cause  the  warm  sympathy 
and  active  aid  of  a  large  part  of  the  American  people. 

The  conflict  was  short  and  bloody.  After  meeting 
reverses  at  Goliad  and  the  Alamo,2  the  Texans  won 
their  independence  by  defeating  the  Mexican  army  at 
San  Jacinto,3  in  1836.  General  Samuel  Houston,  the 
Texan  leader,  was  subsequently  made  president  of  the 
Republic  of  Texas,  which  then  set  up  for  itself  upon 
the  model  of  the  United  States. 


244 


TEXAS    ADMITTED. 


In  no  long  time  Texas  applied  for  admission  to  the 
Union.  Too  weak  to  maintain  herself  as  an  independ- 
ent power,  her  interests  were  now  at  one  with  the 
South.  Her  soil,  climate,  and  productions  were  much 
the  same.  Her  population  was  largely  derived  from 
that  source,  and  owned  to  like  feelings  and  prejudices 


THE   ALAJfO. 


with  their  brethren  of  that  section.  The  South,  there- 
fore, favored  the  admission  of  Texas,  not  only  for  these 
general  reasons,  but  because  it  would  add  a  slave  State 
to  the  Union,  as,  since  Missouri  and  Arkansas  had  come 
in,  there  was  no  more  territory,  except  Florida,  open  to 
slavery  under  the  interdicted  line  of  36°  30'. 

For  this  very  reason  the  growing  anti-slavery  senti- 


TEXAS   ADMITTED. 


245 


ment  of  the  North  strongly  opposed  the  admission  of 
Texas.  It  was  further  opposed  on  the  ground  that  as 
Mexico  had  not  yet  acknowledged  the  independence  of 
Texas,  so  unfriendly  an  act  toward  Mexico  would  lead  to 
war.  Moreover,  Texas  was  of  such  vast  extent,  com- 
pared with  other  States,  that  the  bill  for  its  admission 
allowed  the  making 
of  four  more  new 
States  out  of  it,  so 
opening  the  door  of 
the  Union  not  to 
one,  but  several  slave 
States  in  the  future. 

lint  the  North  and 
South  did  not  sepa- 
rate themselves  into 
two  distinct  political 
factions,  or  their  citi- 
zens stand  wholly  to- 
gether, on  this  Texas 
question.  With  many 
it  was  simply  a  ques- 
tion of  national  policy 
or  expediency.  It  was  championed  by  the  Democratic 
party,  which  believed  in  the  "manifest  destiny"  of  the 
Union  to  control  the  whole  continent,  while  the  Whig 
party  was  conservative,  and  its  opposition  was  based  on 
the  grounds  already  given,  which  many  thought  equiva- 
lent to  national  dishonor.  Southern  men  were  in  both 
parties,  and  Northern  men  in  both.  Each  party  nomi- 
nated a  Southern  man  for  President  upon  this  issue. 
This  question  was  carried  to  the  people  in  the  next 
national  election  (1844),  when  Clay,  the  Whig  candi- 


SAMUEL  HOUSTON. 


246 


TEXAS   ADMITTED. 


date,  and  opponent  of  annexation,  was  defeated,  and 
Polk,4  the  Democratic  candidate  and  its  advocate, 
elected.  The  Congress  therefore  admitted  Texas  to  the 
Union,  Dec.  29,  1845. 


1  TEXAS  MISSIONS  were  established 
by  Franciscan  monks  as  follows:  In 
1690,  that  of  San  Francisco  on  the  Lavaca 
River,  at  Fort  St.  Louis  (see  "  La  Salle's 
Colony");  St.  John  the  Baptist  was 
founded  on  the  Rio  Grande,  same  year. 
In  1714,  those  of  San  Bernard  and  Adaes, 
fifteen  miles  west  of  Natchitoches.  In 
1715,  Mission  Dolores,  west  of  the  Sabine ; 
one  near  Nacodoches,  and  another  near 
the  present  town  of  San  Augustine.  The 
mission  and  fortress  of  San  Antonio  de 
Valero  was  soon  after  founded  near  the 
present  city  of  San  Antonio.  In  1721, 
one  was  located  at  the  crossing  of  the 
Neches;  another  on  the  Bay  of  St. 
Bernard,  called  Our  Lady  of  Loretto; 
and  a  third,  called  La  Bahia  (the  Bay), 
at  the  lower  crossing  of  River  San  An- 
tonio. In  1730,  the  Church  of  San  Fer- 
nando, San  Antonio,  was  founded;  in 
1731,  the  mission  of  La  Purissima  Con- 
cepcion,  near  the  same  place.  All  these 
missions  were  secularized  in  the  latter 


part  of  the  eighteenth  century.  —  Baker, 
Texas  Scrap-Book. 

2  THE  ALAMO  (Spanish  for  poplar- 
tree),  was  a  chapel  used  in  connection 
with  the  Mission  San  Antonio  de  Valero. 
Here  one  hundred  and  forty-four  Texan 
revolutionists,  under  W.  Barrett  Travis, 
were  besieged  (1836)  by  superior  Mexican 
forces  under  Santa  Anua.  The  insur- 
gents  held  out  ten  days,  when  the  Alamo 
was  stormed,  and  all  of  its  brave  defe'nd- 
ers  put  to  death.  David  Crockett  of  Ten- 
nessee was  among  the  slain.  The  event 
has  been  commemorated  by  a  shaft  bearing 
the  legend:  "Thermopylae  had  its  mes- 
senger of  defeat,  the  Alamo  had  none." 

8  SAN  JACINTO  is  a  small  village  near 
Galveston  Bay.  The  decisive  battle  was 
fought  April  '21, 1836. 

4  JAMES  K.  POLK,  of  Tennessee. 
His  nomination  was  the  first  public  news 
ever  sent  by  telegraphin  the  United  States. 
Morse's  new  line  was  just  completed  be- 
tween Baltimore  and  Washington. 


INTERLUDE. -NEW   POLITICAL   IDEAS. 

"  Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again."  —  Bryant. 

As  yet  any  direct  attack  upon  slavery  was  unpop- 
ular in  the  North.  The  two  antagonistic  ideas  of  limit- 
ing or  extending  it  were  now  running  a  neck-and-neck 
race  for  controlling  power;  but  attachment  for  the 
Union  itself  was  stronger  at  the  North  than  at  the 
South,  whose  people  had  been  taught  to  consider  it  a 
compact  to  be  kept  only  during  the  pleasure  of  the  sev- 
eral States,  or  so  long  as  their  interests  were  promoted 


NEW    POLITICAL   IDEAS.  247 

by  it.  This  doctrine  was  never  taught  in  the  North. 
The  prevailing  sentiment  there  was  attachment  for  the 
Union,  "  one  and  indivisible ; "  while  the  South,  under 
different  teachings,  was  weighing  its  worth  in  the  bal- 
ance with  slavery. 

One  new  and  potent  element,  however,  had  come  into 
the  controversy.  At  the  North  a  little  band  of  men 
pledged  to  work  for  the  immediate  emancipation  of  the 
slave,  and  deeply  in  earnest,  had  begun  a  warfare  that 
ere  long  was  to  shake  the  Union  to  its  foundations. 
Though  few  in  numbers,  tln-y  were  both  hated  and 
feared.  At  the  North  they  were  called  fanatics,  at  the 
South  abolitionists.  At  the  North  they  were  mobbed, 
at  the  South  a  reward  offered  for  their  heads.  The 
North  apologized  for  them,  the  South  demanded  they 
should  be  put  down.  But  though  they  were  thus  held 
up  to  public  detestation,  as  enemies  of  the  Union,  by 
both  sections,  these  men  felt  that  they  stood  for  a  great 
and  holy  principle,  which  surely  must  triumph  in  the 
end.  It  made  them  strong.  It  made  them  respected. 
They  were  led  by  William  Lloyd  Garrison  of  Massa- 
chusetts, whose  name  is  now  spoken  in  the  land  with  as 
much  honor  as  it  once  was  with  bitter  scorn  and  hatred 

Slavery  was  to  be  openly  attacked  through  the  print 
ing-press,  the  platform,  and  the  right  of  petition.  The 
two  first  agencies  would  reach  the  people,  and  the  last 
their  representatives  in  Congress.  Garrison  declared 
in  his  paper  "  The  Liberator,"  that  he  would  be  heard ; 
and  he  was  heard,  though  not  till  he  had  been  dragged 
through  the  streets  of  Boston  with  a  halter  round  his 
neck.  In  Congress,  as  the  outcome  of  this  agitation, 
John  Quincy  Adams  presented  many  petitions,  praying 
for  the  abolition  of  slavery  and  the  slave-trade  in  the 


248  NEW   POLITICAL   IDEAS. 

nation's  capital,  the  District  of  Columbia.  He  was  as- 
sailed with  a  storm  of  indignation.  Congress  would 
not  receive  the  petitions.  They  continued  to  come  in 
by  the  hundred,  some  bearing  thousands  of  names.  All 
were  refused  a  hearing.  The  venerable  Adams,  —  "  the 
Old  Man  Eloquent,"  —  then  in  his  sixty-fifth  year,  was 
declared  an  incendiary  unworthy  of  a  seat  in  the  Capi- 
tol, and  a  resolution  to  expel  him  was  even  introduced ; 
but  his  brave  stand  for  the  right  of  petition  made  a 
hundred  friends  for  the  anti-slavery  cause  where  one 
had  been  before. 


IOWA  ADMITTED. 

IOWA  was  the  first  free  State  to  be  formed  out  of 
the  Louisiana  purchase.  She  had  been  admitted  with 
Florida  in  1845,  but  her  people,  being  dissatisfied  with 
the  boundaries  Congress  had  prescribed,  refused  to 
ratify  the  Act,  so  delaying  her  admission  until  the  next 
year  1846. 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO. 

You  can  do  any  thing  with  a  bayonet  but  sit  on  It." 

THOSE  who  said  war  would  follow  the  annexation 
of  Texas  were  right.  It  was  soon  seen  that  Mexico 
would  not  sit  down  quietly  under  her  loss  of  territory, 
or  lightly  pass  over  the  affront  to  her  national  honor,. 
They  who  reckoned  on  her  doing  so  forgot  that  if  the 
Spanish  race  is  indolent,  it  is  also  brave. 

When  nations  are  resolved  on  war  a  pretext  is  soon 
found  for  it. 


THE   WAR    WITH    MEXICO. 


240 


Texas  had  brought  with  her  into  the  Union  a  dis- 
pute with  Mexico  about  her  western  boundary.  She 
claimed  to  the  Rio  Grande,  while  Mexico  claimed  to 
the  Nueces,1  thus  leaving  in  question  a  tract  one 
hundred  miles  wide,  extending  between  these  rivers. 

It  is  true  the  tract  itself  was  worth  little  to  either 
party,  it  being  mostly  barren  prairie  land,  but  in  a 
military  view  the  Rio  Grande  offered  much  the  strongest 
line  of  defence,  and 
for  this  reason  Texas 
wanted  her  boundary 
fixed  on  it. 

A  Spanish  proverb 
says,  "Force  without 
forecast  is  little  worth." 
Mexico  was  quietly 
massing  troops  along 
the  Rio  Grande,  in  the 
disputed  territory,  to  be  ready  to  fight,  while  sounding 
England  to  see  if  she  would  riot  help  her  against  the 
United  States.  England  was  too  wise  to  do  so  openly, 
but  stood  ready  to  take  advantage  of  whatever  the 
chance  of  war  might  throw  in  her  way.  As  Mexico 
owed  England  money  it  was  thought  England  would 
take  California  as  soon  as  fighting  began,  both  as  secu- 
rity for  the  debt,  and  to  get  possession  of  a  Pacific  port, 
which  we  were  preventing  her  from  doing  in  Oregon, 
and  would  prevent  in  California.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  war  broke  out,  our  Government  had  determined  to 
take  California  itself  and  at  once.  So  something  more 
than  a  question  of  boundary  was  depending  on  war  with 
Mexico. 

If  now  Mexico  had  chosen  to  give  up  the  boundary 


MEXICAN   CAKT. 


250  THE    WAR   WITH    MEXICO. 

in  dispute,  without  a  fight,  there  is  no  telling  how 
the  decision  might  have  affected  the  future  of  the 
United  States.  The  question  is  perhaps,  itself,  the  best 
apology  we  can  find  for  the  war. 

The  quarrel  having  thus  become  ours,  troops  were 
sent  to  the  Lower  Rio  Grande  to  hold  possession.  The 
Mexicans  brought  forces  to  oppose  them,  arid  fighting 
began.  After  driving  back  the  Mexicans  at  Palo 
Alto,  and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  our  forces  crossed  the 
Rio  Grande  into  Mexican  territory.  General  Zachary 

Taylor     commanded    on 

this  line- 

War  being  thus  begun, 

steps  were  taken  to  push 
it  by  assembling  an  army 
of  fifty  thousand  volun- 
teers, and  plans  laid  to 
invade  Mexico  at  differ- 
ent points.  In  Generals 
Scott,  Taylor,  and  Wool, 

MEXICAN  ARASTRA,   FOR  GRINDING  ORES.  ,         , '       ,   -         -  , 

we  had  able  leaders,  but 

the  men  they  had  under  them  were  mostly  new  to  war, 
being  hastily  levied  and  sent  off  into  the  field  before 
they  could  be  properly  trained  in  the  use  of  arms. 

In  the  North  the  war  was  unpopular.2  Its  coming 
was  foreboded  and  its  consequences  viewed  with  alarm. 
That  section  therefore  looked  on  with  indifference  until 
the  actual  fighting  roused  the  national  spirit.  Then  the 
people,  in  general,  heartily  desired  the  success  of  our 
arms,  though  they  still  deprecated  the  war  itself. 

On  the  other  hand,  in  the  South,  and  particularly 
the  South-west,  the  war  was  hailed  with  enthusiasm. 
The  nenDle  there  did  not  stop  to  inquire  whether  its 


THE   WAR   WITH   MEXICO.  251 

aims  were  such  as  should  control  the  acts  of  one 
powerful  nation  toward  its  weaker  neighbor,  but  gave 
it  unstinted  support  from  the  first.  In  Texas  the  war 
spirit  was  fully  aroused  by  the  promise  of  meeting  her 
old  enemy  on  more  equal  terms. 

The  war  soon  developed  the  larger  issues  we  have 
pointed  out.  So  though  sometimes  called  "a  little 
war,"  it  is  seen  that  the  contest  with  Mexico  was  being 
waged  for  a  large  stake. 

1  THE  NUECBS  had  been  the  acknowl-  wan  not  even  cheered  when  panning 

edged  line  between  the  provinces  of  through  the  streets  of  Boston  on  its  way 

Coahuila  and  Texas,  before  the  latter  to  the  front,  and  on  its  return  home  its 

achieved  her  independence,  as  shown  by  flags  were  refused  a  place  in  the  State 

maps  of  the  tiim-.  Capitol. 

*  THE  WAR  UNPOPULAR.  Placards  But  in  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Ala- 
calling  for  volunteers  were  posted  in  the  bama  and  Mississippi  the  war  fever  ran  HO 
streets,  headed  with  the  words  "  Ho  for  high  that  fifty  thousand  men  could  have 
the  Halls  of  the  Montezumas!  "  The  at-  been  furnished  by  these  States  alone.  In 
tempt  of  the  administration  party  to  some  districts  the  rush  was  so  great  that 
kindle  a  war  spirit,  howvrr,  fell  flat.  it  was  feared  there  would  be  too  few 

The  regiment  raised  In  Massachusetts  whiles  left  to  keep  the  negroes  quiet. 


CONQUEST   OF   NEW    MEXICO. 

WHILE  the  heaviest  fighting  was  going  on  in  Old 
Mexico,  the  Government  easily  took  possession  of 
New  Mexico  and  California,  by  means  of  expeditions 
organized  on  the  remote  frontiers. 

New  Mexico  was  wanted  for  the  emigration  to  the 
Pacific.  If  we  were  to  have  California  we  must  also 
have  the  right  of  way  to  it.  In  the  hands  of  the 
Spaniards,  New  Mexico  barred  access  to  the  Pacific  so 
completely  that  the  oldest  travelled  route  was  scarcely 
known  to  Americans  at  all,  and  but  little  used  bv  the 
Spaniards  themselves. 

Jf  now  we  consult  a  map  of  the  United  States  it  is 


252  CONQUEST  OF  NEW  MEXICO. 

seen  that  the  thirty-fourth  parallel  crosses  the  Missis 
sippi  at  the  mouth  of  the  Arkansas,  cuts  New  Mexico 
in  the  middle,  and  reaches  the  Pacific  near  Los  Angeles. 
It  was  long  the  belief  of  statesmen  that  the  great  tide 
of  emigration  must  set  along  this  line,  because  it  had 
the  most  temperate  climate,  was  shorter,  and  would  be 
found  freer  from  hardship  than  the  route  by  way  of 
the  South  Pass.  This  view  had  set  on  foot  the  explora- 
tion of  the  Arkansas  and  Red  rivers.  But  if  we  except 
the  little  that  Pike  and  Long  had  gathered,  almost 
nothing  was  known  about  it.  Yet  the  prevailing  belief 
gave  New  Mexico,  as  related  to  California,  an  excep- 
tional importance. 

These  considerations  weighed  for  more  than  acquisi- 
tion of  territory,  though  the  notion  that  New  Mexico 
contained  very  rich  silver-mines  undoubtedly  had  force 
in  determining  its  conquest.  Otherwise  it  was  held  to 
be  a  poor  country,  with  little  arable  land,  mostly  moun- 
tainous, and  scarcely  fertile  in  the  valleys,  while  in 
consequence  of  its  great  elevation  the  winters  were 
severe. 

Thus  New  Mexico  seemed  placed  by  Nature  as  a  half- 
way-house may  stand  alone  at  the  summit  of  a  mountain 
pass  with  deserts  upon  either  side.  It  offered  a  place 
for  the  refreshment  of  the  nation's  travellers.  At  best 
it  was  only  a  thin  wedge  of  semi-civilization  driven 
north  into  barbarism  as  far  as  Spanish  power  could 
send  it,  but  this  force  had  spent  itself  long  ago,  and 
New  Mexico  now  lay  a  stumbling-block  in  the  path  of 
progress,  in  contented  isolation.  Our  Government  de- 
termined to  remove  the  obstruction. 

With  this  object  General  Kearney  marched  from  Fort 
Leaven  worth  in  June,  1846,  for  Santa  FC*,  at  the  head 


CONQUEST    OF   NEW   MEXICO. 


253 


of  a  force1  of  which  a  battalion  of  Mormons  formed 
part.  After  subduing  New  Mexico,  Kearney  was  to  go 
on  to  California,  and  with  the  help  of  naval  forces 
already  sent  there,  for  the  purpose,  conquer  that  country 
also. 

It  is  worth  while  to  dwell  a  moment  upon  one  feature 
of  this  expedition,  if  only  for  its  singularity.  The 
Mormons  were  to  be  paid  off  in  California,  were  to 
turn  the  sword  into  a  plough- 
share and  settle  in  the  coun- 
try, and  had  therefore  been 
allowed  to  take  their  families 
and  property  with  them. 
They  were  seen  when  setting 
out  on  the  march  by  Mr. 
Parkman,  who  thus  describes 
them :  "  There  was  some- 
thing very  striking  in  the 
half-military,  half-patriarchal 
appearance  of  these  armed 
fanatics,  thus  on  their  way 
with  their  wives  and  children 
to  found,  it  might  be,  a  Mormon  empire  in  California. 

"  In  the  morning  the  country  was  covered  with  mist. 
We  were  always  early  risers,  but  before  we  were  ready 
the  voices  of  men  driving  in  the  cattle  sounded  all 
around  us.  As  we  passed  above  their  camp,  we  saw 
through  the  obscurity  that  the  tents  were  falling,  and 
the  ranks  rapidly  forming ;  and,  mingled  with  the  cries 
of  women  and  children,  the  rolling  of  the  Mormon 
drums  and  the  clear  blast  of  their  trumpets  sounded 
through  the  mist. 

"  From  that  time  to  the  journey's  end,  we  met  almost 


PUEBLO  WOMAN   GRINDING  CORN. 


254 


CONQUEST    OP   NEW   MEXICO. 


every  day  long  trains  of  government  wagons,  laden 
with  stores  for  the  troops,  crawling  at  a  snail's  pace 
towards  Santa  Fe\" 

General  Kearney  marched  by  the  Upper  Arkansas,  to 
Bent's  Fort,2  and  from  Bent's  Fort  over  the  old  trail 
through  El  Moro  and  Las  Vegas,  San  Miguel  and  Old 
Pecos,  without  meeting  the  opposition  he  expected, 

or  at  any  time  seeing  any  con- 
siderable body  of  the  enemy. 
On  the  18th  of 
August,  as  the  sun 
was  setting,  the 
stars  and  stripes 
were  unfurled  over 
the  palace  of  Santa 
F£,  and  New  Mex- 
ico was  declared 
annexed3  to  the 
United  States. 
Either  the  home 

government  thought  New  Mexico  quite  safe  from 
attack,  or,  having  decided  to  reserve  all  its  strength 
for  the  main  conflict,  had  left  this  province  to  its 
fate. 

After  organizing  a  civil  government,  and  appointing 
Charles  Bent  of  Bent's  Fort,  governor,  General  Kearney 
broke  up  his  camp  at  Santa  Fe,  Sept.  25.  His  force 
was  now  divided.  One  part,  under  Colonel  Doni- 
phan,  was  ordered  to  join  General  Wool  in  Chihuahua. 
A  second  detachment  was  left  to  garrison  Santa  Fe*, 
while  Kearney  went  on  to  California  with  the  rest  of 
the  troops.  The  people  everywhere  seemed  disposed  to 
submit  quietly,  and  as  most  of  the  pueblos  soon  prof- 


BOY  AND  DONKEYS. 


CONQUEST   OF   NEW   MEXICO. 


255 


fered  their  allegiance  to  the  United  States  Government, 
little  fear  of  an  outbreak 4  was  felt. 

Before  leaving  the  valley,  a  courier  was  met  bear- 
ing the  news  that  California  also  had  submitted  to  us 
without  striking  a  blow.  This  information  decided 
General  Kearney  to  send  back  most  of  his  remain- 
ing force,  while  with  a  few  soldiers  only  he  con- 
tinued his  march  through  what  is  now  Arizona  for  the 
Pacific. 

Near  his  point  of  departure  from  the  Rio  Grande,  a 
deputation  of  the  Apaches  came  to  have  a  talk  with  the 
general.  These  hereditary  foes  of  the  Spaniards  were 
lost  in  wonder  at  seeing  the  order  and  celerity  with 
which  our  cavalry  obeyed  the  bugle-call  of  "  boots  and 
saddles,"  —  the  order  to 
mount  for  the  march. 
The  pent-up  wrath  of 
three  hundred  years 
broke  forth  among  them 
in  hot  words.  "  You 
have  taken  New  Mexico, 
and  will  soon  take  Cali- 
fornia," they  said.  "  Go, 
then,  and  take  Chihua- 
hua, Durango,  and  Sono- 
ra.  You  fight  for  land.  We  care  nothing  for  land. 
We  fight  for  the  laws  of  Montezuma  and  for  food. 
The  Mexicans  are  rascals,  and  we  will  kill  them 
all ! " 

Leaving  this  force  to  make  its  slow  way  down  the 
Gila,  and  across  the  sandy  desert  of  Lower  California, 
we  v.rill  now  inquire  what  had  happened  to  wrest  Cali- 
fornia from  Spanish  rule  without  bloodshed. 


PUEBLO   OF  TAOS. 


256  CONQUEST   OF  NEW   MEXICO. 

1  GENERAL       STEPHEN       WATTS  bastions,  similar  to  Fort  Laramie  (refer 
KEARNEY'S  FORCE    consisted    of    two  to  description  of  Fort  Laramie).  Named 
batteries  of  artillery  (Major  Clark  com  ior  Charles  Bent,  its  founder, 
manding),  three  squadrons  of  dragoons  3  NEW  MEXICO  ANNEXED.    General 
(Major,    afterward   General,    Sumner),  Kearney's    act    was    premature.     This 
Doniphau's  and  Price's  (afterward  Gen-  could  be  done  only  by  Act  of  Congress, 
eral  C.  S.  A.)  Missouri  regiments,  and             4  No  OUTBREAK  EXPECTED.    But  a 
the  Mormon   Battalion  (Colonel  P.  St.  general   one    began  at    Taos,  January, 
George  Cooke).    It  was  called  the  Army  1847,  with  a    massacre    of  Americans, 
of  the  West.  Governor  Bent  being  one  of  the  victims. 

2  BENT'S  FORT  (two  hundred  miles  It  was  quelled  by  Colonel  Price,  who  took 
south-east  of  Denver)  was  all-important  Taos.    The  old  church  of  Taos  was  oc- 
to  the  success  of  this  campaign.    It  was  cupied  by  insurgents,  who  were  driven 
a  large  quadrangle  with  adobe  walls  and  out  by  Kit  Carson  and  St.  Vrain. 


THE  TAKING   OF  CALIFORNIA. 

THE  courier  who  had  been  stopped  by  General 
Kearney  was  Kit  Carson,  Fremont's  old  guide.  Carson1 
was  on  his  way  to  Washington  with  despatches  from 
Commodore  Stockton  and  Captain  Fremont. 

A  few  words  will  explain  how  Fremont  came  to  be 
in  California  at  so  critical  a  time.  While  trying  to 
make  his  way  back  to  the  States,  through  the  Sierras, 
he  had  been  forced  to  recross  their  snows  into  the  Sac- 
ramento Valley,  and  had  descended  this  valley,  which 
was  found  uninhabited,  save  by  Indians,  to  Sutter's 
Fort,2  where  means  were  furnished  him  to  continue  his 
journey  homeward. 

Delighted  with  the  country,  he  had  made  so  favorable 
a  report  of  it  that  he  was  again  sent  out  (1845)  for  the 
purpose  of  finding  the  shortest  route  for  a  railroad  to 
the  Pacific,  and  especially  to  the  neighborhood  of  San 
Francisco  Bay. 

When  Fremont  set  out,  war  with  Mexico  was  thought 
to  be  near  at  hand.  Our  Government  coveted  Cali- 
fornia for  several  reasons.  For  one  thing,  our  whale- 


THE  TAKING   OF   CALIFORNIA. 


257 


fishery  in  the  Pacific  had  grown  to  be  a  great  business, 
in  which  twenty  thousand  sailors  and  two  hundred 
thousand  tons  of  shipping  were  employed.  This  inter- 
est therefore  wanted  California,  because  the  port  of  San 
Francisco  was  the  only  one  in  the  North  Pacific  not 
blocked  up  by  a  sand-bar,  like 
that  which  renders  the  mouth  of 
the  Columbia  so  difficult  of  ac- 
cess. 

Moreover,  a  considerable  emi- 
gration3 had  already  found  its 
way  into  California,  whose  fine 
climate  and  fertile  soil  these  peo- 
ple praised  so  much  to  their 
friends  at  home,  that  many  were 
already  on  the  road,  and  more 
preparing  to  follow  them.  Un- 
known to  themselves  they  were 
to  be  the  founders  of  a  new  com- 
monwealth. And  even  at  this 
early  day  Government  and  peo- 
ple were  talking  of  a  Pacific 
railroad,  as  a  thing  of  coming 
necessity,  and  the  more  sanguine 
believers  in  "manifest  destiny" 
thought  as  many  as  fifteen  thou- 
sand Americans  would  be  settled  in  Oregon  and  Cali- 
fornia during  their  lifetime.  Thus  we  had  important 
commercial  views  touching  California,  and  we  were 
throwing  into  it  what  might  be  considered  in  the  light 
of  the  vanguard  of  an  army  of  occupation.  We  had 
won  Texas  in  this  way,  and  would  win  Oregon  too. 

It  became   a  prime  object  with  President  Polk  to 


258  THE  TAKING   OF   CALIFORNIA. 

secure  California,  peaceably  if  we  could,  forcibly  if  we 
must.  Mexico  was  first  asked  to  sell  it,  but  refused. 
Our  Government  then  began  a  secret  negotiation  through 
the  American  consul4  at  Monterey,  which  aimed  to 
bring  about  the  voluntary  secession  of  California  from 
the  Mexican  Republic  altogether,  and  the  setting-up 
instead  of  an  independent  government  there  under  our 
protection.  But  if  this  plan  failed  —  and  it  did  not 
succeed  —  every  thing  was  made  ready  to  take  California 
by  force  of  arms. 

There  was  also  fear  lest  England  might  try  to  obtain 
in  California  what  she  was  about  to  lose  in  Oregon, 
namely,  a  Pacific  seaport.  Her  ships  were  in  those 
waters.  Mexico  owed  England  money,  as  we  have 
said.  How  far  this  fear  was  well  founded,  is  not  clear ; 
but  that  it  was  felt  there  can  be  no  doubt,  for  we  find 
Mr.  Buchanan,  our  Secretary  of  State,  instructing  our 
consul  at  Monterey  that  "the  United  States  would 
vigorously  interpose  to  prevent  California  becoming  a 
British  or  French  colony." 

In  furtherance  of  these  views  our  squadron  in  the 
Pacific  had  orders  to  take  possession  of  the  chief  ports 
of  the  country,  so  soon  as  war  should  begin. 

Fremont  therefore  started  on  his  third  expedition 
across  the  continent  well  informed  of  the  general  policy 
of  the  Government  toward  California.  For  the  rest,  his 
work  was  to  be  done  wholly  on  Mexican  ground,  which, 
being  taken  with  the  other  elements  of  the  case,  of  itself 
seems  plainly  foreshadowing  the  views  of  the  Government. 

On  this  journey,  Fremont  crossed  from  the  head  of 
the  Arkansas  into  Utah,  and  from  the  Utah  Desert  to 
the  Humboldt  Mountains  and  River,  both  of  which 
he  named  at  this  time  for  the  great  German  scientist. 


THE  TAKING   Ot1   CALIFORNIA. 


259 


From  here  he  again  struck  the  Sierra  Nevada,  which  he 
crossed,  as  before,  into  the  Sacramento  Valley. 

Upon   reaching   the  vicinity  of  Monterey,  Fremont 
was  ordered  out  of  the  country  by  the  Mexican  authori- 


h'lATES    AND   TEKKIT01UE3    ACO.U1KEU    FROM    MEXICO. 

ties.  Intrenching  himself  on  a  hill,  back  of  Monterey, 
he  hoisted  the  American  flag,  and  bade  defiance  to  the 
order.  Finding  the  Mexicans  would  not  attack  him, 
he  marched  northward  up  the  Sacramento  Valley  as 
far  as  Klamath  Lake  unmolested,  save  by  Indians  with 
whom  he  had  several  combats. 


260 


THE   TAKING   OF   CALIFORNIA. 


At  this  place,  Fremont  was  overtaken  by  a  messenger 
who  had  come  across  Mexico  with  despatches  from  the 
Government.  It  is  thought  Fremont  was  unofficially 
advised  to  make  the  most  of  any  opportunity  that 
should  present  itself.  At  any  rate,  he  seems  to  have 
thought  the  time  was  come  for  him  to  drop  his  charac- 
ter of  explorer  and  turn  his  presence  in  California  to 


CALIFORNIA  INDIANS  AND  TULE   HUTS,  SACRAMENTO  VALLEY. 

account.  He  therefore  set  out  at  once  for  Sutter's 
Fort,  where  he  could  be  near  the  American  settlers, 
who  were  living  in  the  lower  part  of  the  valley  or 
about  the  Bay  of  San  Francisco.  Fremont  thus  became 
the  rallying-point  for  his  countrymen  in  California,  and 
their  protector. 

This  was  in  June,  1846.  Rumors  of  war  were  now 
flying  thick  and  fast.  The  Californians  were  quarrel- 
ling among  themselves  over  questions  then  dividing  the 


THE  TAKING  OF  CALIFORNIA.  261 

Mexican  nation.  The  American  settlers  were  thrown 
into  more  or  less  alarm  by  the  threats  made  to  drive 
them  from  the  country.  We  had  ships-of-war  at  San 
Francisco  and  Monterey,  but  their  commanders  hesi 
tated  to  act  until  it  was  known  the  two  nations  were 
at  war.  The  settlers  put  an  end  to  all  indecision  by 
raising  the  flag  of  revolt  themselves.  On  the  14th 
these  settlers  seized  Sonoma,  a  military  post  lying  to 
the  north  of  San  Pablo  Bay.  They  immediately  pro- 
claimed California  an  independent  republic.  Upon  this 
Fremont  put  himself  at  their  head.  He  marched  first 
to  Sonoma,  and  next  to  the  Presidio  of  San  Francisco, 
whose  garrison  fled  at  his  approach.  By  these  prompt 
acts  all  the  country  lying  north  of  the  Bay  of  San 
Francisco  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  insurgents. 

These  events  were  followed  by  the  raising  of  an 
American  flag  over  Monterey,  July  7,  by  Commodore 
Sloat.  The  same  thing  was  done  by  his  order  at  Yerba 
Buena  and  Sonoma.  As  soon  as  he  heard  of  it,  Fremont 
also  hoisted  the  flag  at  Sutter's  Fort.  He  then  marched 
for  Monterey,  where  the  ships  Savannah,  Congress, 
Cyane,  and  Levant  were  lying  with  their  guns  com- 
manding the  town.  An  English  line-of-battle  ship  was 
also  anchored  in  the  basin  of  Monterey,  and  another 
at  Yerba  Buena.  With  whatever  intentions  they  had 
come,  they  had  arrived  just  too  late. 

In  this  manner  what  is  known  as  the  Bear  Flag  Rev- 
olution, from  the  settlers'  having  borne  a  bear  on  their 
standard,  began  and  ended  with  Fremont  for  its  central 
figure.  Without  him  it  would  never  have  been  possi- 
ble. But  for  him  the  conquest  would  not  have  come 
when  it  did,  but  it  would  have  come. 

Commodore  Stockton,  an  energetic  officer  who  sue- 


262 


THE   TAKING   OF   CALIFORNIA. 


ceeded  Sloat,  now  took  active  steps  for  putting  down 
all  armed  resistance  to  the  United  States.  Fremont's 
battalion,5  now  mustered  into  the  service  of  the  United 
States,  but  until  then  acting  independently,  was  sent  to 
San  Diego  on  board  the  Cyane.  No  resistance  was 
met  with  at  San  Diego.  Fre- 
mont then  marched  on  Los 
Angeles,  the  actual  capital, 
which  he  entered  in  company 
with  a  force  led  by  Commodore 
Stockton  from  San  Pedro,  on 
the  coast.  The  Californians 
nowhere  made  a  stand,  but  fled 
to  the  mountains  rising  behind 
Monterey. 

California  having  thus  fallen 
so  easily  into  our  hands,  steps 
were  at  once  taken  to  quiet  it. 
Civil  officers  were  appointed  to 
administer  the  government. 
The  inhabitants  were  promised 
protection  so  long  as  they  kept  peace, 
while,  as  if  to  clinch  what  had  been 
done  already,  numbers  of  emigrants 
were  coming  down  into  the  Sacra- 
mento Valley  from  the  north,  and 
coming  to  stay. 
An  insurrection  in  the  south  put  an  end  to  this  state 
of  things.  In  a  little  time  the  interior  country  was 
again  overrun.  While  it  was  in  progress,  General 
Kearney  was  heard  from.  After  making  one  of  the 
longest  marches  on  record,  he  had  arrived  near  San 
Pasqual,  where  the  insurgents  were  found  in  some 


EL  CAPITAN,  TOSEMITE. 


THE  TAKING   OF   CALIFORNIA.  268 

strength.  A  fight  took  place  in  which  Kearney's  over- 
matched force  was  roughly  handled,  and  for  a  time 
hemmed  in  by  foes.  The  Californians  were  themselves 
in  turn  defeated  at  San  Gabriel  and  the  Mesa,  and 
meeting  Fremont  coming  to  attack  them  from  Santa 
Barbara,  gave  themselves  up  to  him. 

The  war  on  the  Pacific  coast  was  thus  ended,  while 
that  on  the  Atlantic  was  still  in  progress.  General 
Taylor  had  taken  Monterey,  and  later  fought  the  battle 
of  Buena  Vista,  which  was  obstinately  contested.  A 
second  army  under  General  Scott  landed  at  Vera  Cruz, 
and,  with  the  aid  of  the  fleet,  took  the  castle  of  San 
Juan  de  Ulloa.  This  army  then  began  its  victorious 
march  for  the  City  of  Mexico,  winning  battles  at  Cerro 
Gordo,  Churubusco,  Molino  del  Rey,  and  Chapultepec. 
Having  overcome  all  opposition,  the  capital  was  entered, 
and  the  war  ended  Sept.  14,  1847. 

By  the  treaty  of  peace,  which  followed  (Feb.  2,1848), 
the  United  States  acquired  New  Mexico  and  California, 
for  which  fifteen  millions  were  paid.  Mexico  also  gave 
up  her  claim  to  the  territory  east  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
That  river  on  the  east,  and  the  Gila  on  the  west,  now 
formed  the  southern  boundary  of  the  United  States, 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  to  the  junction  of  the  Gila 
with  the  Colorado.  From  thence  a  straight  line  ex- 
tended it  to  the  Pacific,  so  as  to  include  the  port  of  San 
Diego. 

1  CARSON'S  HOME  was  at  Taou,  and  from  Missouri  to  California  in  1838-39, 

he  knew  the  country  thoroughly.  He  and  made  the  first  settlement  in  the  val- 

had  promised  Fremont  to  go  to  Wash-  ley  on  a  tract  granted  him  by  the  Mexi- 

ington  in  sixty  days,  and  had  already  can  Government  in  consideration  of  hie 

killed  or  worn  out  thirty  mules  when  he  keeping  the  Indians  in  check.  To  this 

met  Kearney.  end  he  built  a  fort,  and  armed  it  with 

8  SUTTER'S  FoRT.  Captain  John  A.  guns  bought  of  the  abandoned  Russian 

Sutler  was  by  birth  a  Swiss.  He  came  Colony  at  Bodega.  The  fort  was  a  quad- 


264 


THE  TAKING   OF  CALIFORNIA, 


rangular  structure,  built  of  adobe, 
mounting  twelve  guns,  and  capable  of 
containing  a  thousand  men,  though  Fre- 
mont found  in  it  but  thirty  whites,  aud 
forty  Indians  whom  Sutler  had  domesti- 
cated. It  stood  on  the  banks  of  a  creek 
running  to  the  American  River.  Ves- 
sels ascended  to  within  two  miles  of  it. 
Fremont  found  in  Sutler's  Fort  a  base 
ready  prepared  for  his  operations  against 
the  Californians.  Though  holding  a 
Mexican  commission,  Sutler  soon  joined 
the  American  parly  himself.  The  forl  is 
perhaps  besl  known  in  conneclion  with 
the  discovery  of  gold  at  Suiter's  Mill, 
now  Coloma,  fifty  miles  above  it.  Sutler 
lived  here  independently,  raising  large 
crops  and  herds  with  Indian  laborers. 
His  extensive  grant  was  called  New 
Helvetia,  and  included  the  site  of  Sacra- 
menlo  Cily.  Excepl  this,  the  Spaniards 
had  neither  post  nor  setllement  in  the 
greal  basin  of  California. 

3  DE    MOPBAS,  a  Frenchman    who 
visited  California,  eslimates   ils  whole 


while  populalion  in  1842  at  Only  five 
thousands  of  which  three  hundred  and 
sixty  were  Americans,  and  about  six 
hundred  natives  of  other  countries. 

4  THE  AMERICAN  CONSUL  was 
Thomas  O.  Larkin,  a  native  of  Charles- 
town,  Mass.,  who  went  to  California  in 
1832.  He  was  the  first  and  only  Ameri- 
can consul  in  thai  country,  and  per- 
formed his  duties  so  well  as  to  win  the 
confidence  of  all  parties.  "To  him,  per- 
haps more  than  to  any  other  man,  the 
country  is  indebted  for  the  acquisition 
of  thai  territory."  —  W.  W.  Morrow. 

6  FREMONT'S  BATTALION.  "  Fre- 
mont rode  ahead,  a  spare,  active-looking 
man.  ...  He  was  dressed  in  a  blouse 
and  leggings,  and  wore  a  felt  hal.  After 
him  came  five  Delaware  Indians  who 
were  his  body-guard,  and  have  been  with 
him  in  all  his  wanderings.  The  resl,  many 
of  Ihem  blacker  than  the  Indians,  rode 
two  aud  two,  the  rifle  being  held  by  one 
hand  across  the  pommel  of  the  saddle." 
—  Lieutenant  Walpole,  R.N. 


THE   MORMONS  IN   UTAH. 

THE  Mormons,  or  Latter  Day  Saints 1  as  they  prefer 
to  call  themselves,  have  been  mentioned  in  a  former 
chapter.  They  are  a  religious  community  whose  teach- 
ings differ  widely  from  those  of  any  other  Christian 
body  in  the  land.  For  one  thing,  they  allow  polygamy,2 
which  is  not  only  repugnant  to  the  moral  sense  of 
the  great  body  of  Christian  people,  but  to  the  laws  as 
well. 

Driven  from  Missouri  (1838),  and  from  Illinois  ten 
years  later,  their  leaders  cast  about  for  some  place  of 
refuge,  so  remote  that  persecution  could  not  reach 
them,  and  where  they  might  practise  their  religious 
forms  freely.  Like  most  religious  sects  the  Mormons 


THE   MORMONS   TN   UTAH. 


265 


seemed  to  thrive  upon  persecution,  for  their  numbers 
were  constantly  increasing  under  it. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Fremont's  description  of  the 
region  about  the  Great  Salt  Lake  arrested  the  attention 


SALT   LAKE   CITY  AND   TABERNACLE. 


of  Brigham  Young,  the  Mormon  patriarch.  Fremont 
had  said  the  valley  of  Bear  River,  a  tributary  of  this 
lake,  made  "a  natural  resting  and  recruiting  station 
for  travellers."  Its  bottoms  were  extensive,  water 
excellent,  timber  sufficient,  and  soil  well  adapted  to 
the  grains  and  grasses  suited  to  so  elevated  a  region. 


266  THE  MORMONS  IN  UTAH. 

The  great  lake  would  furnish  exhaustless  supplies  of 
salt.  And  he  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  cattle  and 
horses  would  thrive  where  grass  and  salt  were  so 
abundantly  provided  by  nature.  With  these  advan- 
tages he  recommended  it  for  civilized  settlement. 

Upon  this,  the  Mormons,  who  were  farmers  and 
graziers,  decided  to  form  themselves  in  one  great  cara- 
van, and  travel  to  this  Great  Salt  Lake.  They  started 
out  with  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  people  and  sev- 
enty-three wagons.  On  the  24th  of  July,  1847,  as  the 
caravan  slowly  wound  down  the  Wasatch  Mountains, 
the  exiles  saw  the  plain  of  their  New  Jerusalem  stretch- 
ing out  before  them,  but  when  they  reached  it  they 
found  nothing  growing  upon  it  but  sage-bushes. 

They  however  laid  out  their  city 3  at  the  foot  of  the 
hills,  on  a  river  which,  as  it  runs  from  Utah  Lake  to 
Salt  Lake,  intercepts  the  streams  coming  down  the 
eastern  hills.  The  Mormons  called  this  river  the  Jor- 
dan, because  of  some  fancied  resemblance  to  the  river 
of  Palestine. 

Finding  all  so  barren  about  them,  these  people  took 
counsel  of  the  experience  of  their  neighbors,  the  Pueblo 
Indians,  who  for  want  of  wood  build  their  houses  of 
adobe,  and  for  want, of  rain  raise  crops  by  watering 
them  artificially.  Thus  Salt  Lake  soon  grew  out  of  an 
arid  plain  to  be  a  city  of  gardens  and  running  streams. 

In  setting  forth  the  advantages  of  the  Utah  Basin, 
Fremont  had  described  a  portion  of  the  neighbor  repub- 
lic of  Mexico,  with  which  we  were  then  at  peace,  and 
in  making  it  their  home  the  Mormons  had  been  moved 
by  a  desire  to  go  outside  the  limits  of  the  United 
States,  but  were  strangely  brought  back  within  them 
again  when  California  was  ceded  to  us. 


THE   MORMONS   IN   UTAH.  267 

Though  shut  out  from  the  world,  this  strange  colony 
steadily  grew  in  strength  and  numbers.  The  Mormon 
Church  had  sent  out  its  missionaries  to  make  converts 
ifi  other  lands,  for  in  the  Union  its  doctrines  were 
detested,  and  the  community  itself  looked  upon  as 
little  better  than  outcasts.  So  the  increase  was  mostly 
from  this  source.  Hence  it  was  natural  that  the  Mor- 
mon body  should  have  in  it  less  of  the  spirit  of  national 
feeling  than  other  communities,  and  grow  more  and 
more  away  from  the  Union  by  reason  of  its  isolation 
and  the  teachings  of  its  rulers. 

These  teachings  were  embodied  in  a  hierarchy,  or,  in 
other  words,  Church  and  State  were  one  with  the  Church 
above  the  civil  authority.  The  bishops,  chief  priests, 
and  elders  were  the  actual  rulers,  who  both  made  and 
gave  the  law,  and  each  member  of  the  society  gave  a 
tenth  of  his  living  to  the  support  of  the  Church.  All 
who  did  not  conform  to  the  Mormon  faith  were  denied 
any  share  in  civil  affairs.  Thus  the  Mormons  had  set 
up  in  Utah*  a  little  republic  of  their  own,  which,  in 
effect,  excluded  other  citizens  of  the  Union  from  a  full 
share  in  its  privileges.  Though  a  republic  in  name  it 
was  a  despotism  at  the  root.  In  short,  the  Mormons 
had  gone  to  Utah  to  found  a  society  for  themselves 
alone,  in  which  none  but  their  own  people  should  find 
a  welcome. 

It  followed  that  the  Mormon  state  was  looked  upon 
as  an  element  of  danger,  rather  than  strength,  to  the 
Union,  for  the  place  where  it  was  founded  was  a  natural 
stronghold  from  which  the  authority  of  the  nation 
might  be  set  at  defiance,  as  soon  happened. 

Flourishing  only  by  reason  of  their  isolation,  the 
Mormons  looked  with  little  favor  upon  the  passing 


268 


THE   MORMONS   IN   UTAH. 


emigration,  though  they  drew  much  benefit  from  it. 
They  coula  sell  their  cattle,  grain,  horses  and  other 
supplies  to  the  emigrants  at  high  prices,  but  the  steady 
march  of  these  people  toward  the  west  threatened  the 
security  they  wished  to  enjoy  apart  from  the  world. 
Though  always  hostile  to  the  great  westward  move- 
ment, and  sometimes  resorting  to  violence  to  stay  it,  the 
Mormons  have  been  made  to  contribute  to  its  success, 
not  perhaps  as  free  agents,  but  as  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  destiny.  Thus  while  having  more  than  suf- 
ficient population,  polygamy  long  stood  in  the  way  of 
Utah's  admission  to  the  Union.  But  in  1894,  Congress 
passed  a  bill  with  that  object,  one  condition  among 
others  being  the  prohibition  of  polygamy  by  the  or- 
ganic act  of  the  new  State. 


1  THE  MORMON  SECT  was  founded 
by  Joseph  Smith,  a  native  of  Vermont 
(1805),  who    claimed    direct  revelation 
from  God,  and  in  1830  put  forth  the 
Book  of  Mormon,  or  Mormon  Bible,  as 
of  Divine  inspiration.    The  same  year  the 
Mormon  Church   began  at  Manchester, 
N.Y.     Smith's  authority  was  absolute, 
like  that  of  the  Pope,  and  could  continue 
only  by  apostolic  succession.    The  Mor- 
mons went  first  to  Ohio,  next  to  Jackson 
County,  Mo.,  then  to  Nauvoo,  111.,  where 
Smith  was  killed  by  a  mob  (1844).    They 
had  little  settlements  at  the  Pueblo  of 
the  Arkansas  and  at  Fort  Bridger. 

2  POLYGAMY,  or  plurality  of  wives. 
The  Mormons  claim   to    practise  it  in 
accordance   with   a   revelation   of    the 
Divine  will.    It  is  however  now  made 
an  offence  bj  United  States  laws  framed 
to  reach  it.      (See  the  Edmunds  Bill.) 

3  THEIR  CITY,  elevated  almost  a  mile 
above  the  sea,  "  was  located  mainly  on 
the  bench  of  hard   gravel   that  slopes 
southward  from  the  foot  of  the  mountains 
toward  the  lake  valley.     The  houses  — 


generally  small  and  of  one  story  —  have 
a  neat  and  quiet  look,  while  the  uniform 
breadth  of  the  streets  (eight  rods)  and 
the  '  magnificent  distances  '  usually  pre- 
served  by  the  buildings  (each  block  con. 
taining  ten  acres,  divided  into  eight  lots, 
giving  each  householder  a  quarter  of  an 
acre  for  buildings,  and  an  acre  for  a 
garden)  make  up  an  ensemble  seldom 
equalled.  Then  the  rills  of  bright, 
sparkling,  leaping  water  which  flow 
through  each  street  give  an  air  of  fresh- 
ness and  coolness  which  none  can  fail  to 
enjoy."  —  Horace  Greeley. 

*  UTAH  is  the  name  of  an  Indian 
tribe,  said  to  mean  "  those  who  dwell  on 
the  mountains."  It  was  formed  into  a 
Territory,  1850.  "  The  great  basin,  six 
hundred  miles  by  three  hundred,  seems 
to  have  been  a  vast  inland  sea.  The  im- 
mediate valley  in  which  Salt  Lake  lies 
is  much  its  best  portion,  and  with  irriga- 
tion the  soil  is  very  productive."  —  ^.  D. 
Richardson.  But  for  polygamy,  Utah 
would  long  a«o  have  been  a  State  in  the 
Union. 


GROUP  III. 


GOLD  IN  CALIFORNIA,  AND  WHAT  IT  LED  TO. 


"  There  is  nothing  in   the   -world  so   sound   as   American 
society."  —  GOLDWIN  SMITH. 


I 

THE    GREAT    EMIGRATION. 


EL   DORADO   FOUND  AT   LAST. 

"It  la  always  the  unexpected  that  happens." 

TT7HAT  El  Dorado1  had  been  to  the  active  imagin- 
*  *  ings  of  De  Soto's  Spaniards,  was  now  to  become  a 
reality  that  would  startle  the  world  from  its  long  for- 
getfulness.  The  world  believed  they  had  been  chasing 
a  phantom  which  lured  them  to  their  death.  One  seeks 
in  vain  to  know  why  Nature  at  last  revealed  the  secret 
she  had  so  long  kept  hid  from  those  who  had  sought 
but  not  found,  to  disclose  it  to  others  who  had  found 
without  seeking. 

The  war  was  scarcely  ended 2  which  gave  us  Cali- 
fornia, when  a  scene  took  place  there  of  far-reaching 
moment  to  mankind.  Words  can  hardly  describe  it. 
For  a  time  it  seemed  the  overturning  of  all  laws  gov- 
erning the  acquisition  and  distribution  of  wealth,  if  it 
were  not  to  put  the  common  laborer  on  a  level  with  the 
millioimaire,  and  so  revolutionize  society  itself.  When 
we  consider  what  has  followed  in  its  train,  the  story 
itself  seems  tame  indeed. 

Captain  Sutter  had  been  having  a  saw-mill  built  for 
him  fifty  miles  above  his  fort,  on  the  south  fork  of  the 
American  River,  which  is  here  a  swift  mountain  stream. 

271 


272 


EL   DOKADO   FOUND   AT   LAST. 


One  evening,  when  all  within  the  fort  wore  its  usual 
quiet,  a  horseman  rode  up  in  hot  haste,  and  asked  to 
see  Sutter  alone.  This  was  James  W.  Marshall,  one  of 
Butter's  men,  who  had  charge  of  the  mill  above.  See- 
ing by  his  manner  that  something  unusual  was  the 
matter,  Sutter  led  the  way  into  his  private  room,  and 
turned  the  key 
in  the  lock. 
With  much 
show  of  mys- 
tery, Marshall 


SUITER'S  MILL. 


then  handed  his  employer  a  packet,  which  being  opened, 
was  found  to  contain  a  handful  of  yellow  metal,  in  flakes 
or  kernels,  which  he  said  he  had  taken  from  the  mill- 
race,  and  asserted  to  be  gold.  By  the  light  of  a  candle 
the  two  men  bent  over  the  little  heap  of  shining  particles 
in  eager  scrutiny.  Sutter  would  not  believe  it  was  gold. 
Marshall  was  sure  it  could  be  nothing  else.  Aquafortis 


EL  DORADO  FOUND  AT  LAST.         273 

was  then  tried  without  effect.  The  metal  was  next 
weighed  with  silver,  in  water.  All  doubt  was  removed. 
It  was  indeed  gold,  yellow  gold,  that  Marshall  had  found. 

His  story,  briefly  told,  was  to  this  effect.  They  had 
started  the  mill,  when  the  tail-race  was  found  too  small 
to  carry  off  the  water.  In  order  to  deepen  it  the  whole 
head  of  water  was  then  let  into  the  race,  thus  washing 
it  out  to  the  required  depth.  It  was  while  looking  at 
the  work  the  water  had  done,  that  Mai  shall  sa\v  many 
shining  particles  lodged  in  crevices  of  the  rocks,  or 
among  the  dirt  the  water  had  carried  down  before  it. 
All  at  once  it  flashed  upon  him  that  this  might  be  gold. 
Gathering  up  what  he  could  without  risk  of  detection, 
he  had  started  off  for  the  fort  without  making  his 
discovery  known  to  any  one. 

Sutter  saw  his  happy  pastoral  life  of  the  past  on  the 
point  of  vanishing.  He  made  an  idle  effort  to  keep  the 
discovery  secret,  at  least  till  he  could  set  his  house  in 
order.  It  was  soon  known  in  the  household  and  at  the 
mill.  From  this  little  mountain  nook  it  was  borne  on 
the  wings  of  the  wind  to  the  sea-coast,  and  from  the 
sea-coast  to  the  four  quarters  of  the  globe. 

Captain  Sutter's  men  3  deserted  him  in  a  body.  The 
American  settlers  and  Indians  of  the  neighborhood 
next  caught  the  infection.  Gold  was  quickly  found  at 
a  point  midway  between  Sutter's  Fort  and  Mill,  called 
the  Mormon  Diggings,4  on  Feather  River,  and  in  the 
gulches  above  the  mill  site.  From  these  districts  the  first 
miners  began  to  straggle  down  to  San  Francisco  with 
pouches  of  gold-dust  in  their  possession.  Men  who  had 
hardly  known  what  it  was  to  have  a  dollar  of  their  own 
suddenly  lived 

*'  Like  an  emperor  in  their  expense." 


274 


EL  DORADO   FOUND    AT   LAST. 


The  effect  was  magical.  Within  a  short  three 
months  most  of  the  houses  in  San  Francisco  and  Monte- 
rey were  shut  up.  Blacksmiths  left  their  anvils,  car- 
penters their  benches,  sailors  their  ships.  Soldiers  were 
every  day  deserting  from  the  garrisons  of  San  Francisco, 

Sonoma,  and  Mon- 
terey. The  two 
newspapers 6  then 
printed  in  the  coun- 
try suspended  their 
issue  indefinitely. 
Everybody  was  off 
for  the  mines,  and 
nothing  else  was 
talked  of  but  gold. 
Consul  Larkin 
thus  describes  the 
scene  at  the  Mor- 
mon Diggings  in 
June,  1848:  "At 
my  camping-place 
I  found  forty  or 
fifty  tents,  mostly 
occupied  by  Ameri- 
cans, strewn  about 
the  hillsides  next 
the  river.  I  spent 

two  nights  in  company  with  eight  Americans,  two  of 
whom  were  sailors,  two  carpenters,  one  a  clerk,  and 
three  common  laborers.  With  two  machines  called 
cradles,  these  men  made  fifty  dollars  each  per  day.  An- 
other miner  had  washed  out,  with  a  common  tin  pan, 
gold  to  the  value  of  eighty-two  dollars  in  a  single  day." 


TWO  MINERS. 


EL  DORADO    FOUND   AT  LAST.  275 

Mr.  Larkin  thought  there  were  then  about  one  thou- 
sand people,  mostly  foreigners,  actually  working  in  the 
mines,  whose  daily  gains  would  amount  to  at  least  ten 
thousand  dollars.  And  he  even  ventured  to  hint  that 
at  this  rate  gold  enough  would  be  produced  in  a  single 
year  to  repay  what  California  had  cost  the  nation. 

Colonel  Mason,  the  military  governor,  adds  what  he 
saw  while  making  a  tour  of  inspection  to  the  new 
placers :  "  Along  the  whole  route  mills  were  lying  idle, 
fields  of  wheat  were  open  to  cattle  and  horses,  houses 
vacant,  and  farms  going  to  waste.  At  Sutter's  there 
was  more  life  and  business.  Launches  were  dischar- 
ging their  cargoes  at  the  river,  and  carts  were  hauling 
goods  to  the  fort,  where  were  already  established  sev- 
eral stores,  a  hotel,  etc.  Captain  Sutter  had  only  two 
mechanics  in  his  employ,  whom  he  was  then  paying  ten 
dollars  a  day.  Merchants  pay  him  a  monthly  rent  of 
one  hundred  dollars  per  room ;  and  while  I  was  there  a 
two-story  house  in  the  fort  was  rented  as  a  hotel  for 
five  hundred  dollars  a  month." 

1  ELDORADO.    Refer  to  p.  14  for  the  mons  who    were   found    here  by    Mr. 

origin  of  this  name.  Larkin  in    June,   probably    came    into 

1  THE  WAK  HARDLY  ENDED.    Con-  California  overland  with  Colonel  Cooke, 

fusion  exists  as  to  the  precise  date  of  or  with  Samuel  Brannan  by  sea  in  July, 

the  gold  discovery.    Larkin  says,  on  the  1846.    Governor  Mason  reports  them  as 

spot,  January  or   February.     Hittell,  a  preparing    to    go    to   Salt     Lake.     See 

well-informed  writer,  says  January  19.  Note  5. 

Royce,  January.    Bancroft  is  not  accea-  »  THE    Two    NEWSPAPERS.      The 

sible  as  I  pen  this  note.  "  Californian  "     (later    "  Alta    Califor 

8  CAPTAIN  SUTTER'S  MEN.  Some  of  nia  "),  first  published  in  Monterey,  then 

those  who  were  either  in  his  employ  or  in  San  Francisco;  founded  1846  by  Wal- 

under  bis    military    command,   became  ter  Colton  and   Robert  Semple;  edited 

wealthy  and   influential  citizens  of  the  by  Semple   after   its    removal    to    San 

State.   Among  them  John  Bidwell,  Pear-  Francisco.       The      "California    Star," 

son  B.  Reading,  Samuel  J.  Hensley,  and  founded   by  Samuel   Brannan   early  in 

Charles  M.  Weber  may  be  named.  1847,  was  merged  with  the  "  California." 

*  MORMON     DIGGINGS.     The   Mor-  See  Note  4, 


276        SWABMING  THROUGH   THE   GOLDEN   GATE. 


SWARMING  THROUGH   THE   GOLDEN   GATE.1 

MEANWHILE  the.  area  of  the  gold-fields  was  being 
rapidly  enlarged  on  all  sides  by  new  discoveries.  Each 
day  had  its  story  of  the  finding  of  some  richer  placer 
for  which  a  general  rush  was  made.  As  time  wore  on, 
gold  was  found  in  all  the  streams  which  cut  their  way 
through  the  foothills  of  the  great  Sierra.2  By  midsum- 
mer four  thousand  people,  half  of  whom  were  Indians, 
were  washing  for  gold  as  if  it  had  been  the  only  em- 
ployment of  their  lives. 

By  this  time  too  the  first  guarded  statements  made 
about  the  extent  and  richness  of  the  gold-fields  gave  place 

to  predictions 
asbold  as  they 
were  hard  to 
believe.  For 
instance,  Gov- 
ernor Mason, 
who  had  been 
over-cautious 
at  first,  soon 
had  no  hesi- 
tation in  say- 
ing that  there  was  more  gold  in  the  country  than  would 
pay  the  cost  of  the  war  a  hundred  times  over. 

It  is  true  that  flour  was  worth  fifty  dollars  a  barrel, 
at  the  mines,  and  a  common  spade  ten  dollars,  but 
when  even  the  poor  and  degraded  Indians  of  the 
rancherias3  could  afford  the  luxuries  of  life,  the  cost 
of  necessaries  was  of  little  account  to  men  who  thought 
four  golden  ounces  only  a  fair  return  for  a  day's  labor. 


THE   GOLDEN   GATE. 


SWARMING   THROUGH   THE   GOLDEN   GATE.        277 


This  is  the  story  of  only  a  few  short  months,  —  the 
preface,  as  one  might  say,  to  the  larger  history.  It 
was  yet  too  soon  for  the  discovery  to  be  known  in  the 
United  States,  but  the  time  was  drawing  near  when  it 
would  be  the  one  all-engrossing  topic  in  every  hamlet 
from  Maine  to  Florida. 
Meanwhile  it  spread  to 
all  the  shores  and  isles 
of  the  Pacific.  Dark- 
visaged  Kanakas  from 
the  Sandwich  Islands, 
swarthy  Peruvians  and 
Chilenos,  added  their 
thousands  to  the  already 
composite  character  of 
the  population  of  the 
land  of  gold.  From  the 
Russian  Possessions  in 
the  north,  from  the  Sand- 
wich Islands  in  the  midst 
of  the  Pacific,  the  won- 
drous tale  was  speeding 
on  to  China  and  the 
Australian  Isles.  Then 
with  the  autumnal  rains 
the  first  chapter  of  this  history  of  marvels  was  closed 
for  a  brief  season. 

Authentic  reports  of  the  gold  discovery  first  appeared 
in  the  public  prints  of  the  Atlantic  States  in  the 
autumn.  In  December,  President  Polk  gave  Governor 
Mason's  and  Consul  Larkin's  reports  to  the  country. 
From  these  sources  the  story  was  taken  up  and  multi- 
plied through  the  myriad  channels  of  public  and  private 


CHINESE   LAUNDRYMAN. 


278        SWARMING  THROUGH   THE  GOLDEN  GATE. 

intelligence,  until  the  name  of  California  became  a 
household  word  throughout  all  the  length  and  breadth 
of  the  land.  Talismanic  word  !  It  was  soon  to  entice 
a  million  men  from  their  homes  to  seek  their  fortunes 
among  the  gulches  of  the  wild  Sierra. 

Rarely  in  the  history  of  the  world  has  society  been 
so  deeply  stirred  to  its  centre.  It  was  like  an  electric 
shock  that  is  felt  throughout  the  whole  social  organiza- 
tion. First  there  was  the  numbness  of  wonder,  then 
the  fever  of  unwonted  excitement.  How  to  get  to 
this  land  of  gold,  was  now  the  one  absorbing  question 
of  the  hour.  Near  a  thousand  leagues  of  barren  plains 
and  desert  mountains  lay  between  it  and  the  settled 
frontier.  These  could  only  be  crossed  after  grass  had 
grown  in  the  spring.  A  still  longer  ocean  journey 
must  be  made  by  crossing  the  Isthmus  of  Darien,  over 
the  trail  struck  out  by  the  viceroys  when  Spain  held  the 
keys  of  the  East;  or,  if  the  voyage  were  to  be  made 
round  Cape  Horn,  the  distance  would  be  more  than 
quadrupled.  But  the  thought  of  these  vast  distances 
to  be  traversed  seemed  only  to  add  to  the  general  im- 
patience to  surmount  them.  The  temper  of  the  public 
mind  was  such  that  it  would  bear  any  thing  but  delay. 
Soon  ships  were  fitting  out  in  every  port 4  of  the  Union 
for  Tampico  or  Vera  Cruz,  for  Chagres,  and  for  the 
long  voyage  round  Cape  Horn.  In  the  seaports  noth- 
ing was  heard  but  the  note  of  preparation.  On  the 
frontier  caravans  were  everywhere  forming  to  go  for- 
ward with  the  appearance  of  the  first  blade  of  grass 
above  ground.  "  Ho  for  California ! "  was  the  cry 
borne  on  every  breeze  that  wafted  ship  after  ship  out 
over  the  wide  ocean  with  her  little  colony  of  gold 
seekers.  "  Ho  for  California !  "  was  the  watchword  of 


SWARMING   THROUGH   THE   GOLDEN   GATE.        279 


those  who  were  braving  the  perils  of  a  winter  journey 
across  the  Sierras.  And  "  California ! "  was  still  the 
answer  of  other  bands  that  were  wending  their  way 
across  the  Cordilleras,  in  paths  first  traced  by  Cortez 
and  his  comrades,  to  Acapulco,  San  Bias  or  Mazatlan 
on  the  Pacific.  All  roads  seemed  leading  to  the 
Golden  Gate.  El  Dorado  was  found  at  last. 


1  THE  GOLDEN  GATE.  "  Approach- 
ing from  the  sea,  the  coast  presents  a 
bold  outline.  On  the  south  the  border- 
ing  mountains  come  down  in  a  narrow 
ridge  of  broken  hills,  terminating  in  a 
precipitous  point,  against  which  the  sea 
breaks  heavily.  On  the  northern  side, 
the  mountain  presents  a  bold  promon- 
tory, rising  in  a  few  miles  to  a  height  of 
two  or  three  thousand  feet.  Between 
thi-se  points  is  tin-  strait— about  one 
mile  broad  in  its  narrowest  part,  and  five 
miles  long  from  the  sea  to  the  bay.  To 
this  gate  I  gave  the  name  of  C/irysopylae, 
or  Golden  Gate,  for  the  same  reason 
that  the  harbor  of  Byzantium  was  called 
Chrysoceras,  or  Golden  Horn."  —  Fre- 
mont. This  was  prior  to  the  gold  dis- 
covery. The  old  Presidio  was  at  the  end 
of  the  southerly  point. 

»  ONE  VAST  GOLD.FIELD.  Most  of 
the  tributaries  of  the  Sacramento  and 


San  Joaqnin  were  noon  tapped,  and 
search  was  even  made  among  the  sources 
of  these  rivers  in  the  belief  that  gold 
existed  there  in  virgin  masses,  from 
which  the  particles  found  lower  down 
had  been  worn  by  water.  Eager  pro- 
spectors soon  carried  exploration  from 
the  Trinity  in  the  north,  to  King's  River 
in  the  south. 

•  INDIANS  OF  THK  RANCHERIAS  were 
employed  in  large  numbers  by  the  whites 
to  wash  gold  for  them.  With  willow  bas- 
kets  lifly  Indians  washed  out  In  one  week 
fourteen  pounds  (avoirdupois)  of  gold. 

«  IN  EVERT  PORT.  "  A  resident  of 
New  York  coming  back  after  an  absence 
of  three  months  (this  was  in  January) 
would  be  puzzled  at  seeing  the  word 
'California'  everywhere  staring  him  in 
the  face,  and  at  the  columns  of  vessels 
advertised  to  sail  for  San  Francisco." — 
New  York  Tribune. 


THE  CALIFORNIA  PIONEERS. 

ALTHOUGH  we  have  seen  much  doing  there  in  the 
previous  year,  and  the  earliest  comers  were  the  true 
pioneers,  the  great  rush  to  the  gold  region  took  place 
in  1849,  upon  the  first  news  being  spread  throughout 
the  States.  It  is  therefore  from  that  year  that  the  his- 
tory of  the  gold  fever  is  usually  dated. 

So  great  was  the  demand  for  shipping,  that  even  old 


280 


THE   CALIFORNIA  PIONEERS. 


whale-ships  were  fitted  up  to  carry  three  or  four  hun 
dred  passengers  round  Cape  Horn.  Even  these  were 
quickly  crowded  with  emigrants.  But  ere  long  the  de- 
mand for  vessels  that  would  show  greater  speed  gave 
rise  to  new  models  in  ship-building ;  and  to  thi»  cause 
we  owe  the  fast  clipper  ships  which  sometimes  sailed 
from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  in  eighty-seven  days. 

At  first  it  was  much  the  fashion 
for  men  to  go  in  companies  formed 
in  their  own  neighborhoods.  Those 
who  could  not  go  themselves  would 
club  together  and  send  a  substitute, 
as  men  may  own  shares  in  a  ship 
or  a  machine,  the  substitute  being 
allowed  to  keep  a  certain  share  of 
the  profits  of  his  own  labor. 

Then,  again,  a  novel  appearance 
was  given  to  the  streets  of  our  sea- 
port towns  by  the  daily  presence  in 
them  of  men  dressed  in  red  woollen 
shirts,  slouch  hats,  and  cowhide 
boots,  —  men  wearing  pistols  and 
dirks,  or  carrying  rifles,  —  whom 
it  was  not  easy  to  know  for  peace- 
ful citizens  just  turned  out  of  their  farms  or  workshops 
or  counting-houses.  Nor  was  the  emigration  confined 
to  the  bone  and  sinew  of  society  only,,  Men  of  every 
walk  in  life  were  drawn  into  it.  A  scholar  might  have 
a  day-laborer  for  his  companion.  Larkin  has  told  us 
how  this  worked  in  the  mines.  The  one  purpose  to  dig 
for  gold  quickly  put  all  on  an  equal  footing,  for  in 
making  labor  the  sole  means  of  wealth,  as  in  the  begin- 
ning it  was,  the  common  laborer  had  become  the  peer 


A  FATHER. 


THE  CALIFORNIA   PIONEERS.  281 

of  the  most  learned  scholar  in  the  land.  Hence  every 
ship  arid  every  caravan  carried  its  little  republic  of 
equality.  And  hence  society  seemed  going  back  into 
its  original  elements,  as  if  gold  were  the  magnet  at- 
tracting all  else  to  itself. 

The  sailing  of  many  ships,  full  freighted  with  eager 
gold-seekers,  was  followed  in  the  early  spring  by  the 
march  of  thousands  across  the  plains.  Like  colonies 
of  migratory  ants  the  long  line  of  wagons  crept  along 
the  roads  leading  to  the  South  Pass  and  Rio  Grande. 
At  Salt  Lake  City,  which  we  have  just  seen  founded, 
the  weary  emigrants  tarried  a  while  to  recruit  their 
failing  animals  for  the  dreaded  passage  of  the  desert ; 
then  to  the  road  again  to  struggle  ever  on  through  the 
parched  valleys,  where  their  gaunt  beasts  died  of  thirst, 
or  up  the  granite  sides 
of  the  Sierras,  where 
they  dropped  from  ex- 
haustion, till  the  Sacra- 
ramento  Valley  was 
reached  at  last,  and 
Shasta  Peak  burst  on 
their  enraptured  sight. 
Hundreds  perished  by 
the  way,  and  long  after 
the  march  for  gold  in  1849  might  be  traced  by  the 
abandoned  wagons  or  dead  animals  that  strewed  its 
path. 

Many  reached  Panama  by  way  of  the  Chagres  River, 
whose  course  led  up  to  the  mountain  chain  dividing  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  from  those  of  the  Pacific.  Day 
by  day  a  motley  fleet  of  dug-out  canoes  might  have 
been  seen  toiling  with  pole  and  oar  against  the  swift 


MOUNT   SHASTA. 


282 


THE  CALIFORNIA   PIONEERS. 


current  of  this  mountain  stream.  At  the  head  of  boat 
navigation,  in  an  open  spot,  under  the  high  mountains, 
a  few  cocoanut  palms  lifted  tufts  of  graceful  foliage 
above  a  clump  of  miserable  huts,  whose  owners  were 
of  mixed  Spanish  and  Indian  blood.  This  was  on  the 
route  the  Spaniards  had  discovered  in  1513.  This  was 
Gorgona. 

Taking  mules  at  Gorgona  the  emigrants  crossed  the 
mountains  to  the  Pacific,  which  they  here  closely  ap- 
proach. At  the  ancient 
city  of  Panama,  inter- 
esting only  as  a  speci- 
men of  that  older  civil- 
ization which  had  run 
its  course,  several  thou- 
sand Americans1  were 
soon  waiting  for  ves- 
sels to  take  them  on 
to  California.  Every 
crazy  hulk  that  would 
float  had  been  taken 
up  by  earlier  comers. 
So  these  people  had  to  stay  at  Panama  through  the 
sickly  season,  though  the  deadly  fever  of  the  country 
was  daily  thinning  their  ranks  of  the  bravest  and  best. 
Thus  months  of  weary  waiting  must  pass  before  these 
people  could  set  foot  in  the  land  of  gold. 

When  they  did  reach  it 2  they  found  San  Francisco  3 
a  city  of  tents  and  shanties  scattered  about  a  group 
of  barren,  wind-swept  sand-hills.  In  the  basin  below, 
formed  by  the  curving  shore,  a  fleet  of  deserted  ships 
rode  at  anchor.  Farther  off  rose  the  little  island  of 
Yerba  Buena,4  and  still  farther,  beyond  the  leagues  of 


ON  THE   OREGON  TRAIL. 


THE   CALIFORNIA   PIONEERS. 


283 


glittering  water,  the  rugged  wall  of  the  Coast  Range 
grandly  enclosed  the  bay  in  its  encircling  arm. 

To  this  picture  now  add  the  hurry  and  confusion 
which  the  beach  showed  at  all  hours  of  the  day,  and 
we  shall  get  a  rapid  glimpse  at  the  humble  beginnings 
of  the  destined  mart  of  the  Pacific.  Those  tents  on 


SAN   FRANCISCO  IN   1849. 

the  beach  were  the  warehouses  of  the  future  metropo- 
lis ;  those  on  the  hills  were  the  abodes  of  its  wealthiest 
citizens. 

Should  we  follow  the  swarm  of  boats  seen  every 
hour  pushing  off  from  the  beach  for  the  mines,  they 
would  lead  us  to  the  two  great  inland  waterways  of 
the  country.  On  the  spot  where  Sutter  had  made  his 
landing-place  another  city  had  sprung  into  being.  This 
was  Sacramento.  On  the  San  Joaquiu,  where  Weber 


284 


THE    CALIFORNIA   PIONEERS. 


had  made  a  home  in  1844,  Stockton  was  growing  up. 
These  were  the  two  great  depots  for  the  mines  north 
and  south. 

By  the  beginning  of  the  new  year  (1849)  the  popu- 
lation of  California  had  run  up  to  twenty-five  thousand. 
The  winter  months,  or,  as  we  should  say  of  this  region, 
the  rainy  season,  everywhere  brought  great  suffering  to 
the  badly-housed  and  ill-fed  emigrants,  many  of  whom 

reached  the  mines  in  a  state 
of  destitution.  There  were 
many  things  even  gold  could 
not  buy  or  wealth  command. 
Men  who  had  both  were  glad 
to  get  acorns  to  live  on. 
Many  died  this  first  winter. 
With  the  coming  of  spring 
the  depleted  ranks  were  more  than  filled  by  new  arrivals, 
and  when  January  came  round  again  the  pioneers  of 
1849  were  a  hundred  thousand. 


EAKLY  COIN. 


1  Two     THOUSAND     AMERICANS. 
"  In  Bettling  an  island  the  first  building 
erected  by  a  Spaniard  will  be  a  church; 
by  a  Frenchman,  a  fort;  by  a  Dutchman, 
a  warehouse;  and  by  an  Englishman,  an 
alehouse."    To  this  it  should  be  added 
that  an  American  would  start  a  news- 
paper.   The  detained  Americans  having 
found   at   Panama  an   unused  printing- 
office  started  a  paper  called  the  "  Star," 
of  which  John  A.  Lewis  of  Boston  was 
editor. 

2  WHEN    THEY     DID    REACH    IT. 
The  schooner  Phoenix   was  a  hundred 
and   fifteen  days   making  the  passage; 
the  Two  Friends,  five  and  a  half  months 
going  from  Panama  to  San  Francisco. 

3  SAN  FRANCISCO;    named   for    St. 


Francis  of  Assisi,  founder  of  the  Fran- 
ciscan  order,  which  founded  the  Cali- 
fornia missions.  See  legend  of  his 
preaching  to  the  birds.  The  Mission  of 
San  Francisco  was  situated  two  miles 
from  the  landing-place  on  the  bay,  where 
the  present  city  of  the  name  was  begun. 
At  this  landing  a  custom-house  was  es- 
tablished, and  the  place  called  Yerba 
Buena  (see  Note  4).  The  missionaries 
chose  the  little  Dolores  Valley  because 
it  was  the  sunniest  and  warmest  part  of 
the  peninsula. 

4  YERBA  BUENA;  first  name  of  San 
Francisco  (see  Note  3) ;  meaning  good 
herb:  now  continued  in  the  island.  A 
vine  with  a  small  white  flower,  common 
to  California.  ' 


CALIFORNIA  A  FREE   STATE.  285 


CALIFORNIA  A  FREE  STATE. 

THE  United  States  did  not  set  up  a  Territorial  govern- 
ment in  California  at  once,  but  put  military  governors 
over  it,  who  continued  the  old  laws  of  Mexico  in  force. 
What  these  were,  only  the  native  people  could  know. 
They  had  not  yet  been  translated  into  English.  Many, 
indeed,  derided  the  idea  of  being  governed  by  laws 
made  for  Spaniards.  Instead,  then,  of  being  clothed 
with  power  to  enact  laws  suited  to  the  new  and  strange 
conditions  growing  out  of  the  gold  discovery,  with 
society  unformed,  or  breaking  to  pieces  about  them, 
the  people  of  California  found  themselves  living  almost 
without  law,  except  such  as  imperative  need  compelled 
them  to  make  and  enforce  for  themselves.  This  state 
of  things  could  have  but  one  result  among  a  people 
hastily  thrown  together  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
most  of  whom  were  law-abiding,  but  many  the  outcasts 
of  society.  It  led  to  confusion,  lawlessness,  and  crime. 
In  the  annals  of  the  State  it  is  usually  called  the  inter- 
regnum, from  the  Latin  word  signifying  a  suspension 
of  the  regular  functions  of  government. 

Therefore,  as  the  actual  laws  remained  either  mostly 
unknown,  or  were  held  in  little  esteem,  the  people  con- 
formed to  them  only  so  far  as  to  give  the  officers  or 
courts  they  chose  among  themselves  Spanish  names. 
They  everywhere  took  the  law  into  their  own  hands, 
establishing  such  local  laws,  or  usages  having  the  force 
of  laws,  as  their  situation  would  seem  to  give  warrant 
for. 

Thus,  the  miners  determined  for  themselves  how  much 
room  each  man  should  have  to  dig  in  ;  and  they  estab- 


CALIFORNIA  A   FREE   STATE. 


lished  in  their  camps  rude  codes  of  justice  by  which 
the  worst  crimes  usually  met  with  prompt  punishment. 
If,  for  instance,  a  man  committed  murder,  he  would 
be  tried  on  the 
spot  by  a  min- 
ers' court,  hast- 


Ifr. 


HYDRAULIC   MINING. 


Trials  of  this 
sort  were  gen- 
erally con- 
ducted in  an 
orderly  man- 
ner, and  sel- 
dom failed  of  doing  justice,  but  they  were  always  felt  to 
be  a  departure  from  the  usages  of  civilized  people,  and 
in  so  far  a  going-back  toward  barbarism. 

Much  disorder  brings  with  it  much  order.     Informed 
of  all  the  evils  to  which  this  state  of  affairs  gave  rise, 


CALIFORNIA  A  FREE  STATE.  287 

Governor  Riley,  in  1849,  called  the  people  to  meet  in 
convention  for  the  forming  of  a  State  government.  The 
delegates  accordingly  assembled  in  September  at  Mon- 
terey. They  framed  a  constitution,  on  the  plan  of  the 
free  States,  prohibiting  slavery  ;  for  as  labor  was  to  be 
the  corner-stone  of  the  State,  the  men 
of  1849  would  not  degrade  free  labor 
by  competition  with  slave- 
labor.  In  November  tin; 
constitution  was  ratified 
by  the  people  ;  and  in  De- 
cember the  officers  elected 
under  it  met  at  San  Jose* 
to  fully  organize  the  State 
government. 

The  petition  of  Califor- 
nia to  be  a  free  State  was 
strongly  resisted    by    the 
Southern  men  in  Congress, 
who  had   hoped  it  would 
come  in  as  a  slave 
State.  Once  again 
it  brought  up  the 
whole  subject  of 
slavery  extension. 
Eventually      the 

,  .  CHICKEN-VENDER. 

struggle  gave  rise 

to  another  compromise  by  which  California  came  in  as 
a  free  State  (1850),  the  slave-trade  was  abolished  in  the 
District  of  Columbia,  and  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law  passed, 
mainly  by  the  efforts  of  Henry  Clay.  The  execution  of 
the  last-named  law  roused  the  indignation  of  the  North 
as  nothing  had  ever  yet  done.  Resistance  to  slavery 


288  CALIFORNIA  A  FKEE   STATE. 

extension  was  now  become  the  dominant  question  there 
in  politics,  in  literature,  and  in  the  pulpit.  The  doc- 
trine that  the  people  of  a  territory  alone  should  have 
the  right  to  decide  whether  they  would  have  slavery 
or  not  had  been  urged  with  much  force  by  Senator 
Douglas  in  the  case  of  California ;  and  thus  popular 
sovereignty,  as  it  was  called,  now  first  brought  together 
the  moderate  partisans  of  slavery,  those  indifferent  to 
its  extension,  and  those  who  believed  such  a  settlement 
as  Mr.  Douglas  proposed  would  lift  the  question  out 
of  party  agitation,  and  so  put  a  stop  to  the  threats  of 
secession,  which  was  the  bugbear  of  all  who  loved  the 
Union. 


ARIZONA. 

A  DISPUTE  having  arisen  with  Mexico  about  the 
boundary  the  war  had  established,  President  Pierce 
settled  it  by  buying  the  territory  in  question  (1853) 
for  ten  millions  of  dollars.  General  James  Gadsden 
negotiated  its  transfer,  and  for  him  it  was  called  the 
Gadsden  Purchase.  The  United  States  thus  acquired 
the  strip  of  country  lying  between  the  Gila  River  and 
the  present  southern  boundary  of  Arizona.  Prior  to 
its  purchase  it  had  formed  part  of  the  Mexican  State 
of  Sonora.  Mr.  Gadsden  exerted  himself  to  secure 
with  it  the  port  of  Guaymas  on  the  Gulf  of  California, 
but  was  not  sustained  by  Congress  in  his  effort  to  do  so. 

At  the  period  of  its  cession  to  us  Arizona  was  practi- 
cally unknown  except  to  hunters  and  trappers  or  to  the 
few  who  had  read  the  accounts  of  the  early  Spanish 
explorers.  Mr.  Gadsden  was  ridiculed  for  making  the 
purchase,  and  Congress  censured  for  squandering  the 


ATIIZONA. 


289 


people's  money  upon  an  arid  waste  destitute  of  suffi- 
cient wood  and  water  to  sustain  a  population  of  civil- 
ized beings.  The  failure  of  the  Spaniards  to  found  any 
considerable  settlements  was  dwelt  upon.  Stories  of 
mines  of  fabulous  wealth  that  Arizona  held  locked  up 
in  her  mountains  had  indeed  come  down  from  a  remote 
time,  and  were  more  or  less  current  abroad,  but  few 


TUCSON. 


believed  in  them,  or  could  see  any  compensating  advan- 
tage to  accrue  to  us  for  the  millions  Congress  had 
spent.  Government,  however,  caused  the  territory 
immediately  to  be  surveyed  with  the  view  of  settling 
the  question  whether  we  had  or  had  not  been  cheated 
in  making  the  purchase. 


II. 

THE   CONTEST   FOR    FREE   SOIL. 


THE    KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 

AT  the  period  now  reached  by  our  story  the  political 
sense  of  the  people,  in  all  things  touching  the 
national  life,  was  represented  by  the  Whig  and  Demo- 
cratic parties.  There  was  yet  another  body  formed  to 
prevent  the  coming  in  of  any  more  slave  States,  and 
therefore  called  the  Free-Soil  party.  This  last  party 
had  only  come  into  being  since  the  war  with  Mexico, 
and  was  not  yet  strong  enough  to  successfully  cope  with 
the  older  ones  for  control  in  national  affairs ;  but  it  was 
growing  stronger  every  day. 

Neither  of  the  two  great  parties  was  divided  by 
geographical  lines.  Both  called  themselves  national 
parties,  but  since  the  extension  of  slavery  was  become 
the  vital  question  of  the  hour,  the  Whig  party  was 
losing  ground  to  the  Free-Soil  party,  which  indeed 
mostly  grew  up  from  the  defection  of  those  Whigs  who 
determined  henceforth  to  stand  with  the  opponents  of 
slavery  until  that  question  should  be  settled  forever. 
So  while  the  Whig  party  was  strongest  in  the  free 
States,  it  was  beginning  to  go  to  pieces  because  it  no 
longer  represented  the  growing  feeling  against  slavery 
in  those  States,  though  it  was  still  led  by  able  states- 

290 


THE   KANSAS-NEBHASKA   STRUGGLE. 


291 


men  like  Daniel  Webster,  whom  the  country  had 
always  looked  to  in  the  past  for  safe  counsel  and  guid- 
ance through  all  the  perils  of  party  strife. 

The  Democratic  party,  on  the  contrary,  being  most 
numerous  in  the  slaveholding  States,  was  more  firmly 
united  than  ever  by  the  agitation  about  slavery,  which 
their  great  leader,  Calhoun,  had  told  them  could  only 
be  maintained  by  being 
extended,  and  could  only 
be  extended  by  becoming 
aggressive. 

Here,  then,  we  have  the 
political  situation  after 
the  admission  of  Califor- 
nia, in  a  nutshell.  In 
the  South  the  Democratic 
party  stood  solid  and  de- 
fiant in  support  of  slav- 
ery extension  ;  in  the 
North  it  favored  popular 
sovereignty,  as  defined 
by  Mr.  Douglas.  The 
Free-Soil  party  declared 
its  purpose  to  oppose  the  making  of  any  more  slave 
States,  and  under  the  lead  of  Sumner  of  Massachu- 
setts, Chase  of  Ohio,  and  Seward  of  New  York,  pre- 
pared to  make  head  against  its  formidable  opponents. 
The  Whigs  were  now  looked  upon  as  the  party  of  vacil- 
lation, weakness,  and  compromise.  Though  in  nominal 
opposition  to  the  Democrats,  its  leadership  was  no 
longer  trusted,  because  it  was  felt  to  have  surrendered 
the  one  principle  *  on  which  the  coming  struggle  inevita- 
bly would  turn. 


STEPHEN  A.  DOUGLAS. 


292  THE   KANSAS-NEBRASKA   STRUGGLE. 

The  Democratic  party  succeeded  in  electing  Franklin 
Pierce2  to  the  Presidency,  for  the  term  running  from 
1853  to  1857. 

His  administration  is  chiefly  memorable  for  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  Act,  by  which  two  new 
Territories  were  formed  of  the  Louisiana  Purchase,  and 
thrown  open  to  settlement.  In  framing  this  Act  its 
authors  left  it  to  the  people  to  choose  for  themselves 
whether  they  would  have  slavery  or  not,  as  Douglas 
urged  they  should ;  and  in  order  that  they  might  do  so, 
the  compromise  of  1820  was  set  aside.  This  measure 
was  largely  the  work  of  Mr.  Douglas,  who,  arguing  that 
the  people  are  sovereigns,  viewed  a  reference  of  the 
slavery  question  back  to  them,  as  the  only  true  way  of 
settling  the  agitation  about  it.  It  had  a  certain  fair- 
play  look  that  won  many  to  its  support  in  the  North. 
In  this  form  Congress  passed  the  Act,  May  30,  1854. 

To  repeal  the  Missouri  Compromise,  was  held  by  many 
at  the  North  and  some  at  the  South,3  to  be  a  violation 
of  the  pledge  so  sacredly  made  to  the  whole  people, 
not  to  admit  slavery  north  of  36°  30'.  We  shall  see 
what  it  led  to. 

Let  us  look  first  at  the  new  Territories  as  the  organic 
Act  found  them.  From  the  Missouri  on  the  east,  they 
reached  to  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  west.  They 
contained  the  most  fertile  lands  of  the  public  domain. 
The  great  thoroughfares  to  Oregon,  California,  and 
New  Mexico,  traversed  them  in  their  whole  length,  so 
making  it  clear,  even  at  this  early  day,  that  the  great 
movement  of  the  people  from  east  to  west  must  be 
along  the  lines  of  these  thoroughfares,  strewing  its 
pathway  with  populous  cities  and  towns  as  it  went. 

Already  we  have  led  the  explorers  through  this  mag- 


THE   KANSAS-NEBRASKA  STRUGGLE.  293 

nificent  land.  Through  them  much  knowledge  had 
been  gained  of  its  natural  features,  its  fine  climate,  and 
of  the  unequalled  fecundity  of  its  soil.  The  West  was 
its  neighbor  and  knew  most  about  it.  The  East  knew  it 
only  through  the  accounts  of  Pike,  Long,  and  Fremont, 
from  the  reports  of  emigrants,  or  in  the  stories  of  travel 
written  by  Irving,  Latrobe  and  others,  all  of  which 
gave  it  a  kind  of  romantic  interest  with  their  readers. 

Upon  the  virgin  soil  of  Kansas  the  fragments  of 
many  of  the  one-time  powerful  red  nations  of  the  East 
had  been  colonized.  Here,  at  last,  we  meet  again  the 
Wyandots  of  Lake  Huron,4  the  Delawares  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, the  Sacs  and  Foxes,  Ottawas,  Pottawatomies, 
Shawnees,  Kickapoos,  Piankeshaws  and  other  warlike 
peoples  whose  race  as  nations  had  been  run.  To  this 
point  they  had  at  length  been  rolled  back  by  the  ever- 
advancing  tide  of  white  emigration.  They  probably 
far  outnumbered  the  original  owners  of  the  soil,  —  the 
Missouris,  Kansas,  Otoes,  Pawnees,  Osages,  —  and  all 
maintained  their  tribal  organization  unimpaired  within 
the  limits  Government  had  set  for  them.  Here  these 
wrecks  of  once  powerful  peoples  peacefully  lived  on 
the  bounty  of  the  nation  which  had  told  them  Kansas 
was  to  be  their  permanent  home. 

Among  most  of  these  tribes  missions  and  schools  had 
been  planted  by  various  religious  denominations.  One 
of  the  richest  and  seemingly  most  prosperous  ones  was 
that  founded  by  the  Methodists  5  among  the  Shawnees, 
who  were  half-civilized,  and  also  held  a  few  slaves. 

To  protect  its  emigrants  who  were  constantly  passing 
over  the  great  routes  toward  the  Pacific,  Government 
had  established  the  military  posts  of  Fort  Leavenworth  6 
on  the  Missouri,  Fort  Riley  at  the  junction  of  the  two 


294  THE   KANSAS-NEBKASKA   STRUGGLE. 

chief  branches  of  the  Kansas,  and  Fort  Kearney  on  the 
Platte.  Fort  Scott  was  also  founded  in  the  south,  on 
the  road  leading  to  the  Indian  Territory. 

Set  against  these  new  Territories  were  two  States, 
—  one  slave  and  the  other  free.  It  was  thought  that 
Kansas  would  mostly  take  her  settlers  from  Missouri, 
and  so  easily  be  a  slave  State,  while  Nebraska  in  a  like 
manner  would  become  a  free  State  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Iowa,  its  neighbor.  Moreover  the  soil  and 
climate  of  Kansas  were  thought  favorable  to  the  em- 
ployment of  slave  labor,  while  Nebraska  was  considered 
to  lie  north  of  the  line  beyond  which  such  labor  could 
be  made  profitable.  Hence  it  was  to  Kansas  that  the 
efforts  of  those  favoring  slavery  were  turned;  and  as 
the  best  part  of  it  was  occupied  by  Indians,  their  re- 
moval or  restricting  within  smaller  tracts  was  provided 
for,  so  making  way  for  the  coming  settlement. 

»  SURRENDERED  THE  PRINCIPLE.  e  METHODIST  MISSION.  This  was  a 
The  two  great  Whig  leaders,  Webster  mission  of  the  Methodist  Church  South, 
and  Clay,  advocated  the  compromise  Other  missions  of  this  denomination 
measures  of  1850.  Clay  was  a  Southern  were  planted  among  the  Omahas,  Kick- 
man,  though  no  slavery  propagandist,  apoos,  Kansas,  and  Delawares.  The 
like  Calhoun ;  but  Webster,  a  Northern  Baptists  and  Quakers  also  had  missions 
man,  disappointed  many  of  his  constitu-  among  the  Sbawnees,  the  Baptists  to 
ents,  and  lost  his  old  influence  over  them  the  Delawares,  and  the  Catholics  (St. 
from  that  time  onward.  Mary's)  among  the  Kansas. 

2  FRANKLIN  PIERCE  was  a  native  of  6  FORT  LEAVENWORTII,  founded  by 
New  Hampshire,  a  lawyer  by  profession,  Colonel  Henry  Leavenworth,  1827,  for 
who  had  served  in  the  Mexican  War.  whom  it   is  named.     It  was  the  great 
He  was  not  in  the  front  rank  of  Demo-  frontier  depot  of  supply  for  the  other  mi  1- 
cratic  statesmen,  but  was  selected  as  a  itary  posts  on  the  Santa  Fe"  and  Oregon 
compromise  candidate,  after  thirty-five  routes,  which  were  converted  into  mil- 
ballots  had  been  divided  between  Cass,  itary  roads  by  Government.   Forts  Riley. 
Douglas,  and  Buchanan.  Kearney,    and     Scott,    were     similarly 

3  SOME  IN  THE  SOUTH.     Benton  of  named  for  General  Bennet  Riley  (mill- 
Missouri  and  Houston  of  Texas  opposed  tary  governor  of   California),    General 
the  repeal.  Stephen  W.  Kearney  (conqueror  of  New 

4  WYANDOTS     OP    LAKE     HURON.  Mexico),   and    General  Winfield    Bcott 
Look  back  to  "  Westward  by  the  Great  (conqueror  of  Old  Mexico). 
Waterways."    For  the  other  tribes,  see 

index. 


KANSAS   THE   BATTLE-GROUND.  295 


KANSAS   THE    BATTLE-GROUND. 

WHEN  Congress  decreed  that  freedom  and  slavery 
should  compete  for  control  in  Kansas,  the  decision 
reminds  us  of  the  judgment  given  by  the  wise  king  of 
history,  who,  having  to  decide  which  of  two  mothers  a 
child  belonged  to,  ordered  one  of  his  guards  to  cut  it  in 
two  with  his  sword,  and  give  the  half  to  each  claimant. 

In  this  contest  Congress  and  the  President  stood  with 
the  South.  The  law-making  power  had  first  removed 
every  restriction  to  making  Kansas  a  slave  State,  and 
now  the  executive  branch  was  to  appoint  governors1 
over  the  people  who  should  go  there  to  live,  and  give 
orders  to  the  military  commanders  to  aid  them  when 
called  upon  to  do  so. 

There  was  another  very  potent  means  working  to  the 
same  end,  which  in  the  hands  of  lawless  men  proved  a 
serious  obstacle  to  the  peaceful  going-in  of  settlers  from 
the  free  States.  The  great  avenue  of  travel  into  the 
disputed  territory  was  the  Missouri  River,  whose  banks 
were  already  lined  with  a  population  holding  many 
slaves,  and  therefore  easily  aroused  to  active  enmity  by 
the  fear  that  the  planting  of  a  free  State  next  their 
border  would  cause  their  negroes  to  run  away,  and  so 
deprive  them  of  their  property.  Moreover,  as  we  have 
already  said,  the  Missourians  had  confidently  looked 
upon  Kansas  as  theirs  whenever  it  should  be  opened  to 
settlement,  and  could  not  bear  the  thought  of  having  it 
snatched  from  them  by  a  people  whose  politics  they 
detested,  and  whose  presence  they  feared. 

Under  these  conditions  the  movement  of  settlers  into 
Kansas  began  at  the  North  and  South.  It  was  no 


296 


KANSAS   THE  BATTLE-GROUND. 


peaceful  march  of  peaceful  citizens  under  the  protect- 
ing hand  of  the  nation,  but  was  turned  by  sectional 
rivalry  into  a  political  crusade.  Public  meetings  were 
held  all  over  the  North  and  South  to  encourage  the 
going  of  the  adventurous  young  men  of  both  sections, 
as  in  time  of  war.  Sectional  passions  were  aroused  and 
inflamed.  Large  sums  were  raised  in  the  churches  to 
arm  these  emigrants  for  the  conflict  which  it  was  clear 
must  take  place  sooner  or  later.  So  the  war  of  the 

sections  that 
/  so  long  had 
threatened  the 
national  peace 
was  begun  at 
last.  Congress 

had  left  the 


A  SQUATTER'S  IMPROVEMENTS. 


tie,  less  in  the 
spirit  of  states- 
manship than 
as  a  way  out  of 
the  difficulty  ; 

and  the  people,  seeing  that  its  peaceful  settlement  was 
impossible,  were  getting  ready  to  fight  it  out,  not  with 
the  ballot  as  Douglas  believed  they  would,  but  as  men 
who  are  convinced  that  force,  and  force  only,  can  decide 
the  justice  of  their  cause. 

Missourians  began  the  settlement  of  Kansas.  June, 
1854,  Leavenworth  2  was  laid  out  two  miles  below  the 
fort  of  that  name.  Another  town  was  also  begun 
twenty-five  miles  farther  up  the  Missouri,  and  named 
for  Senator  Atchison  3  of  Missouri.  These  two,  with  St 


KANSAS  THE  BATTLE-GROUND. 


297 


Joseph  on  the  north  and  Kansas  City  on  the  south,  not 
only  controlled  all  the  river-front  of  Kansas,  but  the 
roads  leading  into  it  as  well,  as  St.  Joseph  and  Kansas 
City  were  the  established  starting-points  for  crossing 
the  plains,  from  which  the  great  overland  routes 
diverged.  Missouri  settlers  also  shortly  began  a  third 
town,  in  the  Kansas  Valley,  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  Lecompton,4  and  soon 
made  it  the  capital  of  the  Ter- 
ritory. 

Thus  the  North  entered  the 
conflict  to  obtain  control  of 
Kansas  under  every  disadvan- 
tage which  remoteness,  prior 
occupation,  or  unyielding  de- 
termination to  exclude  all  who 
did  not  favor  slavery,  could 
bring  into  it. 

New  England  was  the  focus 
of  anti- slavery  thought  and 
action,  to  which  the  rest  of  the  North  undoubtedly 
looked  for  leadership.  It  was,  therefore,  in  New  Eng- 
land that  active  steps  for  throwing  free-State  settlers 
into  Kansas  first  originated.  This  was  effected  through 
an  association  known  as  the  New-England  Emigrant 
Aid  Company,5  which  was  the  parent  or  forerunner  of 
many  similar  ones  subsequently  organized  throughout 
the  free  States.  The  New-England  Company  acted 
with  much  method.  It  formed  little  colonies  which 
were  put  under  competent  leaders,  were  furnished  with 
farming-tools,  and  even  took  out  saw-mills  for  the 
making  of  new  settlements.  Some  colonists  took  their 
families  along  with  them,  but  most  of  the  first  comers 


STREET,   KANSAS  CITV,   1857. 


298 


KANSAS   THE   BATTLE-GROUND. 


were  single  men  whom  the  desire  to  see  Kansas  a  free 
State,  rather  than  a  thoughtless  spirit  of  adventure, 
took  from  the  orderly  communities  of  the  Far  East.  To 
this  work  they  confidently  went  forth  accompanied 
by  the  prayers  and  good  wishes  of  their  friends  and 
neighbors,  though  as  little  used  to  the  rude  encounter 


with   border   men   and   border  life  as 
the  two  kinds  of  civilization  each  pre- 
sented in   itself  were   removed   one   from   the   other. 
These  emigrants  made  a  lodgement   in  the    Kansas 
Valley,  where  they  founded  Lawrence6  (August,  1854), 
Topeka,  Manhattan,  and  Wabaunsee.    Later  settlements 
were  begun  along  the  Osage  waters,  of  which  Osawato- 
mie  was  the  chief,  and  most  famous  in  the  annals  of 
Kansas. 


KANSAS  THE   BATTLE-GROUND. 


299 


The  directing  head  of  this  free-State  movement  on  the 
spot  was  Charles  Robinson,  than  whom  no  more  fitting 
representative  of  the  spirit  of  his  mission,  or  one  pos- 
sessed of  the  ability  to  make  head  against  the  multiplied 
difficulties  of  time  and  place,  could  well  have  been  chosen. 


1  GOVERNORS  OF  KANSAS.  In  four 
years  Kansas  hail  five  governors;  viz., 
Reeder,  Shannon,  Geary,  Walker,  and 
Denver.  Reeder  refused  to  enforce  the 
bogus  Territorial  laws,  and  was  re- 
moved. Shannon  tried  to  put  down  the 
fire  State  movement,  but  resigned  in 
despair.  Geary  fell  into  line  with  it, 
had  his  life  threatened,  and  fled  the  Ter- 
ritory in  disguise.  Walker  proved  too 
honest  to  sustain  fraudulent  voting,  and 
left  the  Territory  when  he  found  himself 
deserted  by  those  who  sent  him  there. 
Denver  found  the  controversy  practi- 
cally settled  in  favor  of  a  free  State. 
Kansas  was  therefore  not  inaptly  called 
the  "  graveyard  "  of  governors. 

1  LEAVBNWOKTH  is  finely  enclosed 
by  a  high  ridge  on  the  west  which  forma 
a  natural  amphitheatre.  Its  site  is  hardly 
surpassed  by  that  of  any  city  of  the  Mis- 
souri Valley.  Its  vicinity  to  the  fort 
soon  made  it  the  first  commercial  city  of 
Kansas,  aa  it  was  the  most  populous. 
Kansas  missed  the  golden  opportunity 
for  having  a  great  city  within  her  own 
borders. 


»  SENATOR  DAVID  R.  ATCHISON 
was  the  head  of  the  pro  -slavery  move- 
ment on  the  spot.  Atchison  was  the 
residence  of  Senators  Samuel  C.  Porae- 
roy  and  John  J.  Ingalls,  and  is  now  a 
thriving  city. 

4  LECOMPTON  took  its  name  from 
Samuel  D.  Lecompte,  Supreme  Terri- 
torial Judge  of  Kansas. 

8  NEW-ENGLAND  EMIGRANT  AID 
COMPANY  was  a  chartered  organization 
under  the  laws  of  Massachusetts.  Its 
history  is  being  written  by  Eli  Thayer, 
one  of  its  earliest  promoters.  The  men 
who  composed  it  were  representative  of 
the anti -slavery  sentiment  at  large,  rather 
than  as  politiciaiiR.  All  were  of  unim- 
peachable character.  Their  colonies  were 
the  embodiment  of  the  New-England 
idea,  aa  interpreted  by  the  motto  of 
Massachusetts,  "  Enne  petit  plncidum 
tub  libertate  quietam  :  "  — 
"This  hand,  the  ruleof  tyrants  to  oppose, 
Seeks  with  the  sword  fair  freedom's 
soft  repose." 

•  LAWRENCE,  named  for  Amos  A. 
Lawrence  of  Massachusetts. 


THE   BATTLE   FOUGHT  AND  WON. 

IT  was  the  doom  of  slavery  that  it  should  require  the 
destruction  of  every  thing  that  stood  in  its  way.  This 
being  conceded,  a  resort  to  lawlessness  —  more  espe- 
cially on  the  part  of  a  rude  population  like  that  of  the 
Missouri  border  —  was  sure  to  follow  the  attempt  to 
set  up  a  free  commonwealth  in  Kansas. 


SOO 


THE  BATTLE  FOUGHT   AND  WOK. 


From  the  moment  the  organic  Act  became  law,  the 
future  of  Kansas  was  ever  and  foremost  a  national  ques- 
tion. The  Southern  leaders  had  told  the  Missourians, 
if  they  would  not  see  political  power  wrested  from  the 
South,  they  must  secure  Kansas  to  slavery  at  any  cost. 
The  North  had  met  the  challenge  in  the  words  of 
Senator  Seward,  who  said,  "  Come  on,  then,  gentlemen 
of  the  slave  States !  Since  there  is  no  escaping  your 

challenge,  I  ac- 
cept it  in  be- 
halfoffreedom. 
We  will  engage 
in  competition 
for  the  virgin 
soil  of  Kansas, 
and  God  give 
the  victory  to 
the  side  that  is 
stronger  in 
numbers,  as  it 
is  in  the  right." 
The  people  of  Western  Missouri,  of  whom  glimpses 
have  been  given  in  former  chapters,  were  typical  Amer- 
ican borderers,  rude  of  manner  and  speech,  scarcely 
touched  by  the  refining  influences  of  the  older  East, 
open-handed  and  hospitable  to  a  fault,  but  capable  of 
committing  brutal  excesses  when  their  passions  were 
aroused,  as  they  now  were  by  the  overwrought  appeals 
of  their  most  trusted  leaders  to  make  an  end  of  aboli- 
tionism, if  they  would  not  see  it  become  a  menace  to 
their  domestic  peace,  —  an  incitement  to  insurrection 
or  ceaseless  turbulence  along  their  border.  Their  char- 
acter may  be  guessed  from  the  name  which  in  a  spirit  of 


THE   FERRY,  LAWRENCE,  KANSAS. 


THE   BATTLE   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 


301 


bravado  they  took  from  their  opponents'  mouths,  —  that 
of  border  ruffians.  They  were  expert  with  the  rifle, 
daring  riders,  accustomed  to  out-of-door  life  from  in- 
fancy, and  hardened  by  experiences  drawn  from  the 
vicissitudes  of  frontier  life,  into  the  bone  of  a  self-assert- 
ing Americanism  of  the  Davy  Crockett  school.  Then, 
inasmuch  as  public  opinion  justified  the  settlement  of 
private  quarrels  with  the  pistol  or  bowie-knife,  the 
taking  of  life  was  held  cheaply  as  compared  with  com- 


A  SQUATTER  MOVING  HIS  CLAIM. 

munities  where  the  enforcement  of  law  is  the  safeguard 
of  the  citizen.  Add  to  this  the  frontiersman's  habitual 
scorn  for  those  reared  in  cities,  or  who  shunned  a  resort 
to  violence  in  support  of  their  principles,  and  we  have 
the  measure  of  those  adversaries  whom  the  free-State 
men  of  the  North  were  to  face  on  their  own  ground, 
and  with  their  own  weapons  in  their  hands. 

The  events  flowing  from  this  state  of  things  may  be 
briefly  summed  up. 

While  the  free-State  movement  was  steadily  gaining 


302  THE  BATTLE  FOUGHT  AND   WON. 

ground  by  the  coming-in  of  actual  settlers,  the  Missouri 
ans  made  determined  efforts  to  stay  it,  first  by  seizing 
upon  the  government  of  the  Territory,  and  next  by 
intimidating  or  driving  out  all  who  opposed  their  law- 
less acts.  Thus  an  election  for  members  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature  (March,  1855)  was  controlled  by  Missouri- 
ans  who,  in  the  most  open  manner,  came  into  the  voting 
precincts  with  arms,  cast  their  ballots  unchallenged,  and 
then  went  home  again  to  Missouri,  so  returning  a  law- 
making  body  by  unlawful  votes.  This  Legislature 
enacted  laws  establishing  slavery.  The  free-State  men 
refused  to  recognize  it  or  its  laws.  They  proceeded  to 
form  a  constitution1  prohibiting  slavery,  with  which 
they  asked  admission  into  the  Union.  They  also  elected 
State  officers,  and  a  legislature  which  they  meant  to  put 
in  operation  if  worst  came  to  worst.  Meantime  they 
organized  themselves  to  repel  force  with  force  if  neces- 
sary. All  those  who  were  opposed  to  making  Kansas 
a  slave  State,  now  came  together  as  the  free-State 
party. 

This  party,  which  had  just  elected  Charles  Robinson 
governor,  refused  to  pay  taxes,  obey  writs,  or  in  any 
way  abide  by  the  acts  of  the  so-called  bogus  legislature. 
The  pro-slavery  party  declared  this  treason.  Congress 
rejected  the  Topeka  Constitution,  the  House  voting  for 
its  admission,  the  Senate  against  it. 

In  consequence  of  the  rescue  of  a  free-State  man  from 
the  hands  of  the  sheriff,  Lawrence  was  soon  besieged  by 
a  large  force  of  Missourians,  assembled  under  color  of 
law,  but  in  reality  invaders  of  the  Territory.  The  peo- 
ple of  Lawrence  prepared  to  make  a  sturdy  defence  by 
building  earth-forts  at  all  the  approaches  to  the  town, 
in  which  men  armed  with  Sharpens  rifles  were  constantly 


THE  BATTLE  FOUGHT  AND  WON. 


303 


stationed.     Seeing  them  determined  to  fight,  the  Mis- 
sourians  left  without  venturing  to  attack  them. 

Finding  the  free-State  men  thus  firm,  the  other  party 
next  invoked  the  judicial  power  to  aid  them  in  breaking 
up  the  combination  made  against  the  enforcement 
of  illegal  laws.  Governor  Robinson  and  many  other 
free-State  leaders  were  indicted  for  treason2  by  a  gnu  id 
jurv,  acting  upon  instruction  of  the  chief  justice,  who 
defined  the  acts  of  the  free-State  men  as  levying  war 
against  the  Federal  Government.  Robinson  and  others 
were  arrested  and  im- 
prisoned. Some  of 
the  leaders  escaped 
out  of  the  Territory. 

Bills  of  indictment 
had  also  been  found 
against  the  two  news- 
papers printed  at  Law- 
rence, as  well  as  the 
hotel  in  which  the 
free-State  men  were  in  the  habit  of  holding  their  meet- 
ings. These  were  declared  public  nuisances.  Under 
the  color  of  law,  an  armed  posse  proceeded  to  Lawrence, 
threw  the  presses  into  the  river,  gutted  the  hotel,  and 
burned  Governor  Robinson's  house  to  the  ground.  This 
took  place  May  20,  1856. 

The  next  act  of  the  actual  government  was  the  call- 
ing-in  of  United-States  troops  to  disperse  the  free-State 
legislature,  which  met  at  Topeka,  July  4.  All  these 
proceedings  had  aroused  the  keenest  interest  throughout 
the  Union,  and  while  in  Kansas  opposition  to  oppres- 
sion was  momentarily  quelled,  it  was  acquiring  greater 
strength  3  in  all  the  free  States. 


304 


THE   BATTLE   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 


Among  the  free-State  men  were  some  who  believed 
such  acts  as  had  been  committed  at  Lawrence  called 
for  reprisals  in  kind.  Of  these,  James  H.  Lane  4  ob- 
tained a  wide  notoriety ;  but  the  animating  spirit  was 
undoubtedly  John  Brown  of  Osawatomie,5  who  held 
that  the  policy  of  submission  was  all  wrong,  and  that 
the  pro-slavery  men  too  must  be  made  to  fear  for  their 

own  safety  before 
peace  could  be 
had.  He  avowed 
himself  in  favor  of 
giving  blow  for 
blow.  This  idea 
found  much  favor 
with  the  fighting 
portion  of  the  free- 
State  men.  On 
the  question  of 
slavery,  Brown's 
mind  was  surely 
unsettled  by  the 
all-engrossing  idea 
that  slavery  was  a 
thing  of  violence 
which  must  die  a  violent  death.  To  bring  this  about 
was  now  the  one  purpose  of  his  life,  and  in  pursuit  of 
it  he  was  as  inexorable  as  fate.  For  its  accomplish- 
ment he  possessed  certain  qualities  that  make  either 
the  hero  or  martyr  according  as  the  purpose  is  weighed 
by  history.  An  iron  will,  religious  fervor  amounting 
to  fanaticism,  were  joined  to  a  calm  but  resolute  cour- 
age which  no  danger  could  daunt  or  turn  from  its 
purpose.  He  was  a  seventeenth-century  Puritan  of  the 


JOHN   BttOWN. 


THE   BATTLE    FOUGHT    AND    WON. 


305 


Cromwellian  stamp  —  a  man  of  iron  belonging  to  an 
iron  age. 

Brown  soon  had  the  border  in  terror  of  his  deeds. 
The  blows  he  struck  were  swift,  secret  and  deadly.  It 
was  now  the  pro-slavery  men  who  were  driven  out  or 
assassinated,  or  had  their  homes  fired  at  dead  of  night. 
Men  sent  to 
take  him 
were  them- 
selves tak- 
en and  held 
as  prisoners. 
These  acts 
led  to  retal- 
iation, re- 
taliation to 
fresh  out- 
rages, and 
for  a  time 
Kansas  was 
given  over 
to  violence. 

Believing  Congress 
would  admit  them  to  the  Union, 
the  slavery  party  also  formed 
a  State  Constitution  at  Lecompton,  the  capital.  But 
an  election  for  a  new  legislature  had  overwhelmingly 
defeated  them,  thus  giving  control  of  the  Territorial 
body  to  the  free-State  men  at  last.  So  the  Lecompton 
men  now  saw  no  hope  for  themselves  except  in  their 
State  Constitution.  As  they  refused  to  submit  the 
whole  instrument  to  the  people,  the  free-State  men  re- 
frained from  voting  for  or  against  the  single  proposition 


BROWN  S   LOG   HOUSE. 


306  THE   BATTLE   FOUGHT   AND   WON. 

of  "slavery"  or  "no  slavery,"  seeing  they  must  get  the 
detested  Constitution  in  any  event.  The  returns  showed 
the  old  determination  still  strong  to  fasten  slavery  on 
the  people  against  their  will.  A  large  majority  was 
obtained  for  the  Constitution  by  stuffing  the  ballot- 
boxes  with  fraudulent  votes.  Of  six  thousand  and  odd 
votes  (6,226),  nearly  half  (2,720)  were  illegally  cast. 
The  Lecompton  Constitution  was,  however,  sent  to  Con- 
gress by  President  Buchanan  with  his  approval.  In 
Congress  it  provoked  a  stormy  debate,  was  sent  back  to 
the  people  of  Kansas  for  final  ratification,  and  by  them 
decisively  rejected  at  the  polls,  August,  1858. 

Though  Kansas  was  kept  out  of  the  Union  three 
years  longer,  her  attitude  in  respect  to  slavery  was  now 
so  little  doubtful  that  the  pro-slavery  men  gave  up  the 
contest  in  despair. 

To  maintain  their  cause  with  the  country  at  large, 
and  make  it  one  on  which  the  opponents  of  slavery 
could  unite,  the  free-State  men  of  Kansas  lived  for  a 
time  nearly  in  chaos  rather  than  forfeit  the  name  of 
law-abiding  people.  In  this  they  showed  admirable 
self-restraint.  To  maintain  themselves  in  Kansas  they 
were  forced  to  adopt  the  tactics  of  their  assailants  at 
last,  and  deal  blow  for  blow.  Cultured  people  were 
roughened  by  this  sort  of  life.  It  made  them  reckless. 
It  weakened  respect  for  law,  even  with  the  law-abiding. 
It  brought  material  progress  to  a  standstill,  and  engen- 
dered lifelong  enmities  among  men  who  were  to  live 
together  as  neighbors.  Social  improvement  was  put 
back  years.  The  very  existence  of  a  conflict  had  the 
tendency  to  bring  bad  men  to  the  front,  whose  influence 
proved  a  hinderance  to  the  settling  of  order  in  the 
State.  The  contest  in  Kansas  proved  Douglas  wrong 


THE  BATTLE  FOUGHT  AND   WON. 


307 


and  John  Brown  right,  in  so  far  as  the  question  of 
peaceful  competition  for  the  soil  was  involved  in  it. 
In  a  national  sense  it  was  therefore  but  the  prelude  to 
the  great  Civil  War  of  the  century. 


1  CONSTITUTION  PROHIBITING  SLAV. 
BUY,  known  in  history  as  the  Topeka 
(•..n-iitiuiun.  Tin-  Si. itr  finally  came 
into  the  Union  under  a  Constitution 
framed  at  Wyandotte  in  1859,  ratified 
October  of  that  year  at  the  polls. 

*  INDICTED  FOR  TREASON.  The 
courts  were  supported  by  Federal  troops 
with  whom  the  free-State  men  would 
not  risk  a  conflict.  Robinson  and  other 
"  treason  prisoners "  suffered  several 
months'  imprisonment.  It  was  a  clever 
l>l;m  for  depriving  the  free-State  party 
of  its  leaders. 

>  ACQUIRING  STRENGTH.  Since  its 
publication  in  1852,  people  everywhere 
hail  l.een  reading  Mrs.  II.  B.  Stowe's 
41  Undo  Tom's  Cabin,"  a  book  which 
perhaps  did  more  to  consolidate  public 
opinion  against  slavery,  by  directing  at- 
tention to  its  worst  evils,  than  all  the 
political  discussions  of  the  time  put  to- 
gether. In  this  view  it  deserves  a  place 
in  the  train  of  events  following  upon  the 
compromises  of  1850.  Another  episode 
of  like  tendency  was  the  assault  made 
on  Senator  Sumner  by  Preston  S.  Brooks 
of  South  Carolina,  in  the  Senate  Cham- 


ber, arising  out  of  the  Kansas  troubles 
(1856).  Still  another  was  the  decision  of 
Justice  Taney  In  the  case  of  Dred  Scott, 
a  slave,  declaring  that  slavery  had  a 
right  to  exist  everywhere  in  the  public 
domain  until  forbidden  by  State  laws. 

*  JAMES  II.  LANE  of  Indiana  had 
served  with  credit  in  the  Mexican  War. 
He  came  to  Kansas  a  pro-slavery  man, 
but  soon  joined  the  free-State  party,  in 
which  he  obtained  much  influence  — per- 
haps more  than  any  man  in  it.  Lane 
was  a  born  leader  of  men.  This  explains 
his  advancement  in  the  face  of  the  other 
fact  that  he  never  had  the  confidence  of 
other  eminent  free-State  leaders.  With 
the  agricultural  settlers  he  was  strong. 
Lane's  great  popularity  elected  him  to  the 
I' n it rd  States  Senate  from  Kansas.  In 
the  Rebellion  he  commanded  a  brigade. 
His  public  and  private  integrity  have 
been  equally  culled  in  question.  Though 
once  the  popular  hero  of  his  day,  Lane 
was  the  product  of  abnormal  conditions 
and  died  with  them. 

6  OSAWATOMIE  is  a  jumbling  together 
of  Osage  and  Pottawatouiie. 


TWO  FREE  STATES  ADMITTED. 

MINNESOTA  came  into  the  Union  in  1858,  and  Ore- 
gon in  1859,  thus  strengthening  it  by  the  addition  of 
two  young  and  sturdy  commonwealths,  both  of  which 
were  primeval  wildernesses  within  the  memory  of  men 
now  living.  At  the  Falls  of  St.  Anthony  two  splendid 
cities,  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis,  have  sprung  up  like 
magic. 


III. 

THE   CROWN   OF  THE   CONTINENT. 


COLD  IN  COLORADO,  AND  THE  RUSH  THERE. 

IT  had  long  been  predicted  by  those  most  familial 
with  the  general  characteristics  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, that  eventually  they  would  be  found  rich  in  min- 
eral wealth.  One  of  the  earliest  and  most  sanguine 
advocates  of  this  idea  was  Colonel  William  Gilpin  of 
Missouri,  whose  predictions,  when  viewed  in  the  light 
of  later  knowledge,  seem  like  the  gift  of  prophecy. 
Reports  were  indeed  more  or  less  current  at  Salt  Lake 
of  the  finding  of  gold  among  the  mountain  streams  of 
the  Great  Basin,  as  far  back  as  1848,  but  all  search  for 
it  was  discouraged  by  the  Mormon  leaders  as  tending 
to  bring  upon  them  a  swarm  of  adventurers  whose 
presence  would  inevitably  work  the  ruin  of  their  isolated 
republic,  and  so  render  all  previous  toil  and  hardship 
of  no  avail.  We  have  seen  that  such  reports  had 
reached  the  Mormons  in  California,  who  were  preparing 
to  go  to  Salt  Lake  in  consequence  of  them. 

Then,  the  existence  of  rich  silver-mines  among  the 
mountains  of  New  Mexico,  which  the  Spaniards  had 
been  working  for  an  unknown  period  of  time,  in  the 
rudest  possible  way,  was  a  thing  of  common  knowledge 
from  the  time  of  La  Salle,  though  the  secrecy  observed 

306 


GOLD  IN  COLORADO,  AND  THE  RUSH  THERE.     309 


in  regard  to  them  effectually  shut  out  inquiry  as  to 
whether  the  business  were  profitable  or  not.  But  Cali- 
fornia was  so  long  the  goal  of  all  seekers  after  gold, 
that  it  was  not  until  her  gold-fields  began  to  give  out, 
and  people  began  to  ask  "  What  next  ?  "  that  the  great 
backbone  of  the  continent,  over  which  the  emigration 
had  rushed  so  long  and  heedlessly,  suddenly  stopped 
them  with  the  question,  as  one  might  say,  "  Why  not 
search  me  ?  " 

The  first  report  of  the  finding  of  gold  at  the  eastern 
base  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  reached  the  Missouri 
River  in  July,  1858,  but 
did  not  gain  much  credit 
till  several  months  later. 
By  October,  however, 
the  fever  was  at  its 
height  on  the  frontier, 
and  had  made  some 
progress  toward  the 
east.  Though  several 
parties  started  out  from 
the  border  towns  of 
Kansas  and  Missouri, 
the  lateness  of  the  sea- 
son prevented  many  from  going  at  this  time.  Mean- 
while, however,  reports  continued  to  come  in,  each 
seemingly  well  authenticated  and  more  conclusive,  as 
to  the  main  fact  that  gold  existed  in  paying  quantity 
not  far  from  the  foot  of  Pike's  Peak.  The  region  where 
report  located  the  discoveries  therefore  took  to  itself 
the  name  of  this  magnificent  mountain,  whose  sides 
were  vaguely  supposed  to  be  veined  with  the  precious 
metal  found  in  the  sands  of  the  Platte. 


GATE,  GARDEN  OF  TUB  GODS. 


310     GOLD   Itf  COLORADO,   AtfD   THE   RUSH   THERE. 


After  much  prospecting,  the  ground  along  Cherry 
Creek,  a  small  tributary  of  the  South  Platte,  was  fixed 
upon  as  one  promising  the  best  results  to  the  miner. 
It  accordingly  became  a  base  for  future  operations 
which  were  to  be  pushed  up  into  the  heart  of  the  moun- 
tains. First  known  simply  as  Cherry  Creek,  the  camp 
of  the  earliest  comers  soon  took  to  itself  the  name  of 
Denver  City,1  from  James  W.  Denver,  governor  of  Kan- 
sas, of  which  this  gold 
region  then  formed 
part. 

With  the  coming 
of  spring,  and 
open  ing  of  nav- 
igation on  the 
Missouri,  emi- 
grants began  to 
pour  into  the 
various  points 
of  departure  for 
the  new  gold 
region.  From 
Omaha  to  In- 
dependence un- 
precedented bustle  prevailed  all  along  the  border.  Many 
started  off  on  a  journey  of  seven  hundred  miles  on  foot. 
Some  put  their  worldly  goods  in  hand-carts  to  which 
they  harnessed  themselves.  One  man  is  said  to  have 
trundled  a  wheelbarrow  from  Kansas  City  to  Cherry 
Creek.  Most  emigrants,  however,  went  in  wagons  over 
the  now  well-marked  roads  of  the  pioneers,  and  by  night 
the  prairies  were  lighted  up  far  and  near  with  their 
camp-fires. 


r 


HUMORS   OF  THE   ROAD. 


GOLD  IN  COLORADO,  AND  THE  RUSH  THERE.  311 


In  view  of  the  rush  to  Pike's  Peak,  the  firm  of  Rus- 
sell, Majors  &  Waddell,  which  had  for  years  trans- 
ported supplies  to  the  military  posts  of  Kansas,  Utah, 


DENVER  IN   1859. 

and  New  Mexico,  now  put  on  a  line  of  daily  coaches 
from  Leavenworth  to  Denver,  which  were  run  up  the  Re- 
publican, and 
thence  to  the 
Platte.  Thus, 
after  the  Indi- 
an pony,  the 
trapper's  cara- 
van, the  explor- 
ers' and  emi- 
grants' caval- 
cade, comes  at 
last  the  mod- 
ern stage- 
coach With  itS  OVERLAND  STAGE.— IN  CAMP. 

promise     of 

greater  things  to  follow  in  its  track.  On  the  21st  of 
May  the  first  coach  reached  Leavenworth  on  its  return 
from  the  mountains,  bringing  only  a  few  thousand  dol- 


812     GOLD   IN  COLORADO,   AND  THE   RUSH   THERE. 


lars  in  dust;  but  in  that  month  John  H.  Gregory,  an 
old  Georgia  miner,  found  rich  deposits  of  gold  in  the 

mountains  among  the 
headwaters  of  Clear 
Creek.  This  discovery 
established  the  value 
of  Colorado  as  a  gold- 
bearing  region. 

When  visited  in  1859 
the  Gregory  Diggings 
were  found  in  a  gulch 
along  which  log  cabins, 
tents  and  camps,  hast- 
ily  covered  in  with 

GOING   IN.  i  J  .11 

boards  or  pine  boughs, 

were  scattered  for  miles.    There  were  then  five  thousand 
people  in  them,  and  more  were  coming  in  every  day. 

Here  the  experiences  of  California  life  were  repeated. 
Some  men  were  taking  out 
two  hundred  dollars  a  day ; 
others  who  worked  equally 
hard  did  not  get  five  dollars 
a  day  for  thair  labor.  It  re- 
sulted that  a  stream  of  con- 
fident and  cheerful  ones  were 
constantly  going  in,  while 
not  a  few  who  had  failed  to 
find  fortune  in  the  diggings 
were  as  constantly  coming 
out,  crestfallen  and  in  rags. 

In  1859  Denver  had  about 
one  thousand  people,  who  lived  in  three  hundred  rough- 
hewn  log  houses.    Very  few  of  them  had  glass  windows, 


COMING   OUT. 


GOLD   IN   COLORADO,   AND   THE   RUSH   THERE.     313 


or  doors,  or  other  floors  than  the  bare  ground.  Hearths 
and  fireplaces  would  be  built  of  adobe,  as  in  New 
Mexico,  and  chimneys  of  sticks  laid  crosswise  one  on 
the  other,  with  the  interstices  filled  with  mud,  as  the 
New  -  Englanders  of 
1630  were  accus- 
tomed to  make 
theirs.  As  no 
rain  falls  ex- 
cept during 
the  summer 
months,  life 
in  the  open 
air  caused 
little  discom- 
fort to  peo- 
ple who,  be- 
ing obliged  to  make  the  most  of  every  thing,  easily 
learned  to  do  without  what  are  called  luxuries. 

Picturesquely  set  up  among  these  homely  dwellings 

of  the  whites,  one 
saw  many  skin  lodges. 
These  belonged  to  a 
band  of  Arapaho  In- 
dians, who  had  thus 
pitched  their  camp  in 
the  heart  of  the  grow- 
ing city.  Golden  City 
in  the  north  and  Colo- 
rado City  in  the  south 
were  soon  founded. 
The  first  was  an  intermediate  point  on  the  route  to 
the  Gregory  Diggings ;  the  second  was  started  at  the 


OFFICE  OF  "  ROCKY-MOUNTAIN   NEWS,"  DENVER. 


COLORADO  CITY,  1859. 


314     GOLD   IN   COLORADO,   AND   THE   RUSH   THERE. 


foot  of  Pike's  Peak,  near  to  the  famous  'Fontaine 
qui  homlle?  or  Boiling  Spring,  and  on  the  route  to 
Santa  Fe\ 

In  a  few  months  more  Denver  had  grown  to  a  city 
of  brick  and  frame  buildings,  with  two  theatres,  a  mint 
coining  the  gold  of  its  own  mines,  and  rival  daily 
newspapers.  It  had  quite  reached  the  second  stage 

of   development  of 
frontier  cities. 

The  surface,  or 
placer,  diggings  of 
Colorado  were  soon 
exhausted,  but  in 
their  place  belts  of 
gold  mixed  with 
quartz  were  struck 
all  the  way  from  Pike's  Peak  in  the  south  to  Long's 
Peak  in  the  north.  Above  this  gold  belt,  rich  silver 
ores  were  sometimes  found  on  the  very  summits  of  the 
mountains.  These  discoveries  soon  changed  mining 
from  a  pursuit  in  which  every  one  could  engage,  and 
which  had  drawn  such  numbers  into  Colorado  in  the 
beginning,  to  the  larger  operations  of  capital,  with  all 
the  appliances  modern  science  brings  to  its  aid. 


QUARTZ  STAMPING-MILL. 


1  DENVER  CITY.  Green  Russell,  a 
Georgian,  with  a  company  of  gold-seek- 
ers, pitched  the  first  camp  on  Cherry 
Creek  in  the  summer  of  1858.  They 
called  it  Auraria  after  a  mining  town  of 
Georgia.  The  party  which  named  Den- 
ver City  came  with  General  Larimer,  of 
Leavenworth,  Kan.,  in  the  winter  of  1858 
-59.  The  gold  region  first  formed  a 
county  of  Kansas  called  Arapaho, 
though  distant  six  hundred  miles  from 


Junction  City,  then  the  nearest  settle- 
ment of  Kansas.  The  nearest  post-of- 
fice was  Fort  Laramie,  two  hundred  and 
twenty  miles  north  of  Denver. 

2  FONTAINE  QUI  BOUILLE,  French. 
"The  three  fountains  bubbling  up  from 
the  ground,  and  not  boiling  with  heat, 
are  strongly  impregnated  with  soda." 
They  were  visited  and  described  by 
Pike,  Long,  Fremont,  and  others. 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


315 


THE    PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

In  time  of  war  prepare  for  peace. 

IN  about  half  a  century  we  have  seen  the  great  body  of 
the  nation  moving  more  than  five  hundred  miles  west- 
ward. It  has  moved  forward  like  an  army  taking  the 
field,  planting  its  outlying  settlements  before  it  at  all 
strategic  points, 
the  possession  of 
which  was  essen- 
tial to  the  success 
of  its  peaceful  mis- 
sion. This  army 
has  marched  at 
the  rate  of  ten 
miles  a  year,  most- 
ly along  the  thirty- 
ninth  parallel,  to 
which  the  advan- 
tage of  soil  and  climate  was  its  infallible  guide.  Its 
destination  was  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

We  have  also  witnessed  the  occupation  of  the  Pacific 
coast,  the  rise  of  two  great  States  there  whose  people 
were  already  stretching  their  hands  out  toward  the  East 
as  if  to  hasten  its  coming.  The  genius  of  civilization 
hovered  over  and  directed  this  grand  march,  which 
never  halted  but  to  re-form  its  lines  and  go  forward 
again  with  stately  tread. 

We  have  further  seen  a  third  body  firmly  plant  itself 
among  the  fastnesses  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  whose 
mission  was  to  extend  its  own  civilization  both  to  the 
East  and  West,  as  the  pebble  which  is  dropped  into  a 


QUAKER  GUM  AT   STAGE    STATION. 


316  THE  PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

pool  sends  out  its  ever-broadening  circle  upon  the  sur- 
face of  the  waters.  Thus  the  people  of  New  Mexico, 
Colorado,  and  Utah,  were  already  throwing  out  little 
colonies  into  the  later  Territories  of  Nevada,  Arizona, 
Idaho,  and  Montana.  Thus  these  Territories  were  the 
heralds  of  the  coming  East.  And  in  this  manner  the 
vigorous  West  had  secured  in  advance  the  strongholds 
which,  in  a  physical  sense,  impeded  the  march  toward 
the  Pacific. 

As  it  went  forward,  the  East  brought  all  the  appli- 
ances of  civilization  with  it,  and  set  them  working  all 
along  the  line.  In  1859  1  the  locomotive  and  telegraph 
reached  the  eastern  frontier  of  Kansas.  There  was  now 
a  gap  of  two  thousand  miles  remaining  to  be  closed  up 
between  the  Missouri  and  the  Pacific.  How  to  bridge 
this  over,  and  by  so  doing  bring  widely  separated  sec- 
tions together,  was  a  question  now  assuming  national 
importance  in  men's  minds. 

The  West  demanded  it  should  be  done  without  more 
delay;  the  older  sections  responded  in  the  spirit  of 
national  progress. 

Private  enterprise  had  already  accomplished  some- 
thing toward  the  desired  object.  In  the  summer  of 
1859  the  same  energetic  firm  that  had  sent  the  first 
stage-coach  across  the  wastes  of  Western  Kansas  to  Den- 
ver, put  on  a  pony  express 2  to  run  between  the  Mis- 
souri River  and  the  Pacific.  Stations  were  established 
twenty-five  miles  apart  on  the  open  prairie,  where  fresh 
animals  and  riders  were  kept  ready  saddled  and 
equipped  for  the  road.  Mounted  on  his  hardy  little 
Indian  pony,  the  courier  rode  with  whip  and  spur  to 
the  next  station,  where,  whether  by  night  or  day,  he 
stopped  only  long  enough  to  snatch  a  mouthful,  mount 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


317 


a  fresh  pony,  and  secure  his  letter-pouch  behind  him. 
He  then  dashed  on  again  at  the  top  of  his  speed. 
Though  one  of  the  oldest  known  methods  of  carrying 
news,  the  difficulties  were  here  such  as  seldom  have 
been  overcome.  By  dint  of  hard  riding,  despatches  were 
sometimes  delivered  in  Denver  in  less  than  three  days, 
and  in  Sacramento  in  eight  days,  from  the  time  of 
setting  out. 

The  Butterfield  Overland  Stage  Company3  estab- 
lished between  St.  Louis  and  San  Francisco  (1859)  was 
a  more  serious 
undertaking. 
It  ran  coaches 
every  day  in 
the  year,  over 
the  longest 
si  age -route  in 
the  world,  trav- 
ersing a  dis- 
tance of  near 
three  thousand 
miles  from  end 
to  end. 

Even  such 

achievements  as  these  were  regarded  as  make-shifts 
which  the  coming  railway  should  set  aside.  That  and 
that  only  would  solve  the  problem  how  permanently  to 
unite  and  hold  together  such  remote  sections  of  the 
Union.  In  the  East  the  country  has  always  been  settled 
before  railways  were  built:  in  the  West  railways  are 
expected  to  bring  settlement  with  them,  or  even  to  go 
before  it  in  a  case  like  the  present  one.  But  without  a 
country  to  support  it,  the  proposed  Pacific  Railway4 


—      ^>. 


PONY  EXPRESS  AND  OVERLAND  STAGE. 


318  THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 

was  something  too  vast  for  private  enterprise  to  grapple 
with.  From  the  time  it  was  first  talked  of,  the  enter- 
prise, therefore,  assumed  a  national  character  and  im- 
portance. 

But  the  slavery  question  had  now  brought  on  a 
national  crisis.  Too  long  it  had  hung  over  the  land 
like  a  storm-cloud  that  is  to  overwhelm  it  with  ruin. 
The  election  of  Abraham  Lincoln  to  the  Presidency 
(1860)  was  followed  by  the  secession  of  most  of  the 
slave-holding  States  (1861),  secession  by  civil  war,  and 
civil  war  by  the  abolition  of  slavery  in  the  land.  All 
the  resources  of  the  country  being  needed  to  carry  on 
the  war,  it  would  seem,  at  first  sight,  no  time  could  be 
worse  chosen  for  pressing  the  claims  of  the  Pacific  Rail- 
way than  when  men  so  doubted  and  feared  for  the 
nation  itself. 

The  people,  however,  thought  otherwise,  and  they 
were  to  rule.  Indeed,  at  the  moment  the  Union  was 
most  seriously  threatened  with  dissolution,  the  idea  of 
binding  the  Great  West  more  firmly  to  it  seemed 
dictated  by  a  wise  forecast,  since,  if  remoteness  were 
to  be  an  element  of  weakness  to  the  nation,  then  the 
sooner  that  remoteness  were  done  away  with,  the  better 
for  its  security. 

Congress  made  liberal  offers  of  moneys  and  lands,  and 
work  began  both  in  California  (1862)  and  Nebraska  * 
(1863).  The  route  from  the  Missouri  first  begun  fol- 
lowed the  old  emigrant  trail  up  the  Platte  Valley,  thence 
crossing  the  mountains  into  the  Utah  Basin,  where  the 
road  from  the  west  was  expected  to  join  it.  As  the 
Platte  Valley  is  nearly  a  dead  level  from  the  Missouri 
to  the  mountains,  the  work  went  on  rapidly  over  this 
part  of  the  line.  Twelve  thousand  men  were  employed 


THE   PACIFIC   RAILROAD. 


319 


on  it.  In  front  gangs  of  laborers  shovelled  up  the  loose 
earth  to  form  the  embankment;  after  these  came  the 
tie-layers  and  track-layers ;  who  were  again  closely  fol- 
lowed by  the  locomotive,  with  the  cars  in  which  the 
workmen  slept  and  ate  since  leaving  the  settlements 
In 'hind  them. 

When  the  track  neared  the  Black  Hills,  the  Indians 
tried  to  stop  its  farther  progress.  They  looked  upon 
its  coming  as  destined  to  drive  away  the  buffalo  from 
their  old  feed- 
ing-grounds,and 
so  starve  them 
out  of  their 
country.  In  this 
belief  they  at- 
tacked the  labor- 
ers, tore  up  the 
tracks,  and  so 
harassed  the 
builders  that  the 
work  could  only 
go  on  under  the 

protection  of  United  States  soldiers.  Some  well-meaning 
people  thought  it  wrong  thus  to  invade  the  Indians' 
hunting-grounds  for  any  purpose  whatsoever,  and  Wen- 
dell Phillips  rejoiced  that  they  had  risen  in  defence  of 
them.  Said  he,  "All  hail  and  farewell  to  the  Pacific 
Railroad!  Haunt  that  road  with  such  dangers  that 
none  will  dare  use  it !  " 

The  work,  however,  steadily  went  on.  On  the  10th 
of  May,  1869,  the  two  ends  came  together  at  Promon-. 
tory  Point,  Utah,  and  with  impressive  ceremonies  the 
Pacific  Railway  was  opened  to  the  traffic  of  the  world. 


TRACK-LAYING,   PACIFIC   RAILBOAD. 


320 


THE   PACIFIC   KAILKOAD. 


The   way  to  the    Indies    had   been  found. 
Benton's  prophecy  was  fulfilled. 


Senator 


1  THE  LOCOMOTIVE  BEACHED  St. 
Joseph,  Mo.,  over  the  Hannibal  and  St. 
Joseph  Railroad.  The  telegraph  came 
up  the  Missouri  River  from  St.  Louis. 
The  telegraph  crossed  the  plains  in 
advance  of  the  railroad. 

*  PONY  EXPRESS  followed  the  old 
Platte  route,  via  Forts  Kearney,  Lara- 
mie,  the  South  Pass,  Fort    Bridger,  to 
Salt  Lake. 

3  BUTTERFIELD      OVERLAND     COM- 

PANY'S  route  went  through  the  Indian 
Territory,  Texas,  and  Arizona,  with  a 
branch  line  coming  from  Memphis, 
Tenn.,  via  Fort  Smith,  Ark.  The 
coaches  ran  day  and  night,  ordinarily 
making  the  trip  in  twenty-five  days. 

*  THE  PACIFIC  RAILWAY.     A  bill 
authorizing  it  was  carried  through  Con- 
gress in  1859.      It    provided    for  three 
great  lin-je,  namely,  the  Northern,  South- 
ern, and  Central,  all  of  which  have  been 
built.      The    coming   on    of    civil   war 
checked   the   enterprise   at    this   time. 


Government  had  already  caused  all  the 
practicable  routes  to  be  surveyed.  As 
far  back  aa  1846  Lieutenant  Emory  noted 
down  the  practicability  of  the  route  up 
the  Arkansas,  down  the  Rio  Grande  and 
Gila  to  San  Diego  or  Los  Angeles,  while 
on  the  march  for  California.  This  is, 
practically,  the  Southern  Pacific  route 
of  to-day. 

8  CALIFORNIA  AND  NEBRASKA  routes. 
That  begun  in  California  is  called  the 
Central  Pacific.  The  one  leaving  Omaha 
is  the  Union  Pacific.  Both  lines  have 
many  branches.  On  the  California  side 
the  first  passenger  train  reached  the  top 
of  the  Sierra,  Nov.  30,  1867.  The  Union 
Pacific  did  not  push  its  work  until  the 
war  was  nearly  over.  By  the  autumn 
of  1866  it  was  forty  miles  west  of  Fort 
Kearney.  By  the  time  the  Central 
Pacific  was  in  the  Truckee  Valley  (140 
miles  built),  the  Union  Pacific  was  at  the 
Black  Hills  (500  miles  built).  Brigham 
Toung  built  a  portion  of  the  road  in  Utah. 


KANSAS,  NEVADA,  NEBRASKA  AND  COLORADO 
ADMITTED, 

KANSAS  came  into  the  Union  (1861)  as  the  seceding 
States  went  out.  Though  peaceful  progress  was  arrested 
by  the  war,  which  kept  most  of  her  able-bodied  men  in 
the  field,  she*  the  youngest  State,  did  her  part  bravely 
and  well  in  that  memorable  conflict  of  arms,  by  the 
side  of  the  older  ones.  She  kept  the  name  of  the 
nation  which  had  dwelt  along  her  great  river  before 
the  coming  of  the  white  men.  With  the  cessation  of 
civil  strife  began  an  era  of  prosperity,  hardly  paralleled 
in  the  history  of  the  nation,,  and  owing,  chiefly,  to  the 


KANSAS,   NEVADA,   NEBRASKA,   COLORADO.       321 

fertility  of  her  soil,  which  has  raised  her  to  the  front 
rank  of  agricultural  States. 

NEVADA  1  may  be  said  to  have  sprung  from  the  side 
of  California,  though  originally  forming  part  of  Utah. 
For  a  time  it  was  known  only  as  Washoe,  from  the 
Indians  living  about  the  east  foot  of  the  great  Sierra. 

A  little  surface  gold  was  found  here  as  early  as 
1850  by  emigrants  who  carried  the  news  to  California. 
Their  report  brought  a  number  of  eager  gold-seekers 
into  the  gulches  around  what  has  since  grown  up  to  be 
Virginia  City,  and  it  was  while  searching  for  gold  that 
rich  silver  ores  were  discovered  early  in  1859,  on  Mount 
Davidson.  Here  on  the  eastern  slope  of  this  mountain, 
near  the  newly  discovered  silver  lode,  the  town  of 
Virginia  began  with  a  few  log  huts.  In  sixteen  years 
it  had  a  population  of  twenty-five  thousand.  In  1864 
Nevada  was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

NEBRASKA2  in  soil  and  climate  is  quite  like  Kansas, 
though  somewhat  less  fertile.  Though  opened  to  set- 
tlement at  the  same  time  Kansas  was,  emigration  was 
mostly  directed  to  the  latter  State  by  the  slavery  ex- 
citement. In  1861  the  area  of  Nebraska  was  much 
reduced  by  the  forming  of  Dakota,  though  it  is  still 
larger  than  all  New  England.  Omaha,3  Plattsmouth, 
and  Nebraska  City  grew  up  as  outfitting  points  for  the 
commerce  of  the  plains.  All  were  villages  in  1857. 
As  the  railway  system  of  Iowa  unerringly  directed 
itself  toward  the  Platte,  Omaha,  the  capital,  grew  in 
importance ;  but  when  the  terminus  of  the  Pacific 
Railway  was  fixed  there,  its  future  was  assured.  From 
this  time  onward  the  progress  of  Nebraska  was  marked. 
In  1867  it  came  into  the  sisterhood  of  States. 

COLORADO  was  named  for  the  great  river  which  rises 


322      KANSAS,   NEVADA,   NEBRASKA,   COLORADO. 

among  its  mountains.  It  was  formed  (1861)  of  por- 
tions taken  from  New  Mexico,  Utah  and  Kansas.  Be- 
sides its  mineral  wealth,  the  raising  of  sheep  and  cattle 
has  grown  to  be  a  great  industry.  In  1876  Colorado 
was  admitted  to  the  Union. 

1  NEVADA,  Spanish  for  "  snowy,"  is  2  NEBRASKA.  When  I  visited  Ne- 
aptly  called  "The  Desert  State."  Ex-  braska  (April,  1858),  a  few  settlements 
cept  lead  and  silver  it  produces  little  or  were  begun  on  the  Nemaha,  Saline,  Big 
nothing.  Carson,  the  capital,  is  named  Blue,  and  Elkhorn,  but  all  would  not 
for  Fremont's  oid  guide.  Though  silver-  have  made  one  good-sized  town.  The 
mines  were  also  opened  in  the  Reese  great  tide  of  western  travel  set  through 
River  District  (Austin)  the  chief  mineral  Independence,  Kansas  City,  Leaven- 
deposits  were  found  about  Virginia  City.  worth  and  St.  Joseph.  In  1872  the 
A  great  rush  set  in  there  from  California,  London  Times  openly  discouraged  emi- 
where  the  excitement  about  Washoe  gration  to  Nebraska,  urging  the  Red 
quite  rivalled,  for  a  time,  that  of  1849.  River  country  instead.  Western  Ne- 
Here  are  the  great  Comstock,  Gould  and  braska  is  unfertile. 
Curry  and  other  rich  silver  lodes.  This  3  OMAHA  is  six  hundred  miles  from 
explains  why  population  is  chiefly  con-  St.  Louis  by  the  Missouri  River,  five 
centrated  in  one  spot  in  the  west  of  the  hundred  from  Chicago,  and  1,898  from 
State.  California  is  its  natural  outlet.  San  Francisco.  It  has  a  charming  site. 
In  sixteen  years  the  Comstock  mines  In  1866  its  population  had  risen  to  eight 
yielded  over  two  hundred  million  dol-  thousand, 
lars  in  silver  bullion. 


THE   RECENT   STATES. 

IT  is  at  least  worthy  of  notice,  in  following  out  the 
'law  governing  the  movement  of  our  people  from  east 
to  west,  that  the  great  block  of  wilderness  country 
which  Lewis  and  Clarke  first  explored  should  be  the 
last  settled.  The  course  their  explorations  took  passes 
through  Dakota,  Montana,  Idaho  and  Washington  to  the 
Pacific  Ocean. 

The  reason  for  this  long  pause  between  the  first  and 
last  acts  in  the  story  of  the  Great  West  is  found  in 
the  fact  that  later  exploration  soon  determined  in  favor 
of  the  Platte  Valley,  as  the  one  affording  by  far  the 
shortest  way  through  the  centre  of  the  continent. 


THE   RECENT  STATES.  323 

Therefore  the  new  States,  just  named,  are  mostly  an 
outgrowth  of  the  more  central  region  in  which  the 
great  body  of  emigration  has  first  settled.  It  may  be 
further  remarked,  that  in  those  Territories  where  gold 
and  silver  occur,  settlement  was  nearly  simultaneous. 

IDAHO,1  like  Nevada,  grew  up  from  the  discovery  of 
gold  and  silver  in  her  borders.  The  finding  of  these 
precious  metals  goes  no  farther  back  than  the  sum- 
mer of  1862.  These  were  placer  deposits.  A  year 
later  quartz  lodes,  rivalling  in  richness  those  of  Colo- 
rado, were  brought  to  light.  Soon  the  old  Hudson's 
Bay  post  of  Fort  Boise* 2  was  turned  into  a  thrifty  town. 
The  mineral  find  rapidly  extended  along  the  Salmon, 
Boise*,  and  Clearwater  Rivers.  In  the  south,  Idaho 
City  sprung  up  on  the  Boise* ;  in  the  north,  Lewiston  on 
the  Clearwater  was  settled.  In  1860  Idaho  scarcely  had 
any  white  people  :  in  1863  it  was  organized  as  a  Terri- 
tory, and  in  1890  admitted  to  the  Union.  Bancroft  LJbnu> 

WASHINGTON  3  is  another  rib  taken  from  the  side  of 
the  older  Oregon,  whose  boundaries  so  fortunately  gave 
us  the  magnificent  harbors  embraced  by  Puget  Sound. 
Here  therefore  is  the  natural  terminus  of  the  Northern 
Pacific  Railway,4  which  comes  from  Duluth  and  St. 
Paul,  crosses  the  tier  of  States  now  under  considera- 
tion, and  reaches  Tacoma  by  way  of  the  Lower  Colum- 
bia. Washington  was  made  a  State  in  1889. 

MONTANA.5  About  all  known  of  this  Territory  in 
1860  was  that  it  contained  two  important  military  posts : 
Fort  Benton  at  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  Missouri, 
and  Fort  Union  near  the  mouth  of  the  Yellowstone. 
But  in  1861  gold  was  found  in  a  gulch  lying  at  the  head 
of  the  Jefferson  Fork  of  the  Missouri.  Population 
rushed  in.  Here  Bannack  City  was  founded.  As  with 


324  THE   RECENT   STATES. 

Colorado  and  Nevada,  so  here  the  surface  diggings  were 
quickly  worked  out.  In  1862  Virginia  City  was  founded 
as  the  successor  of  Bannack ;  and  in  1863  Helena  as  the 
successor  of  Virginia,  and  supply-point  for  the  mines  of 
the  Blackfeet  country.  Montana  was  organized  as  a 
Territory  in  1864.  A  year  later  there  were  but  four 
post-offices,  at  which  tri-weekly  mails  were  received, 
"while  but  one  newspaper  was  printed  in  the  Territory. 
Yet  even  at  this  early  day,  when  mining  engrossed  the 
attention  of  nine-tenths  of  the  population,  it  was  seen 
that  the  agricultural  resources  of  Montana  were  very 
great,  and  since  the  building  of  the  Northern  Pacific 
Railway  along  the  Yellowstone,  that  valley  has  become 
to  Montana  what  the  Willamette  is  to  Oregon.  Mon- 
tana was  admitted  to  the  Union  in  1889. 

DAKOTA  has  signally  demonstrated  its  capacity  for 
supporting  large  populations,  either  by  raising  grain 
crops  or  live  stock,  for  which  the  wild  grasses  of  the 
plains  furnish  abundant  pasturage.  Divided  by  the 
Missouri  in  the  centre,  and  bounded  on  the  east  by 
the  Red  River  of  the  North,  Dakota  has  come  to  be  a 
great  wheat-producing  region  in  its  eastern  half,  and  a 
cattle-growing  one  in  its  western.  Made  a  Territory  in 
1861,  Dakota  came  into  the  Union  as  two  States  (North 
Dakota  and  South  Dakota)  in  1889. 

WYOMING  contains  in  its  north-western  corner  the 
wonderful  Yellowstone  Park,  which  Congress  with  wise 
forecast  has  set  apart  for  the  benefit  and  instruction  of 
mankind.  By  the  census  of  1870  Wyoming  had  only 
9,118  inhabitants  ;  by  that  of  1880,  20,789 ;  and  by 
that  of  1890,  in  which  year  it  became  a  State,  60,705. 

Thus  the  Great  American  Desert,  which  only  to  have 
crossed  was  once  thought  a  feat  worthy  of  being  handed 


THE  RECENT   STATES.  325 

down  to  posterity,  whose  length  and  breadth  were  vividly 
portrayed  as  never  meant  to  be  inhabited  by  man,  is  now 
everywhere  supporting  large  and  prosperous  populations. 

It  is  but  just  to  add  that  the  Mormons  first  disproved 
this  popular  fallacy  by  making  their  homes  in  the  heart 
of  the  desert,  which  imperfect  knowledge  first  led  them 
to  choose,  and  necessity  afterward  forced  to  make  trial 
of.  These  people  have  therefore  done  a  work  as  re- 
markable in  its  way  as  that  performed  by  the  early 
New-England  colonists. 

It  should  further  be  added,  that  the  occupation  of 
these  Territories,  notably  Montana  and  Dakota,  was  pro- 
ductive of  serious  conflicts  with  the  Indians,  who  fought 
to  the  death  for  the  preservation  of  their  last  hunting- 
grounds.  The  Sioux  war  of  1876  was  caused  by  the 
rush  of  gold-seekers  into  the  Black  Hills,  which  the 
Sioux  had  reserved  to  themselves.  They  attacked 
the  whites,  to  whose  aid  soldiers  were  sent.  One  band 
led  by  General  Custer  perished  to  a  man  on  the  Little 
Big-Horn,  in  battle  with  confederate  Indians,  led  by 
Sitting  Bull,  a  Sioux  chief. 


1  IDAHO.    Indian,    said    to     signify  grown,    and    there    are    good    grazing 
*' shining   mountains,"    more   fully    in-  lands. 

terpreted  by  some  to  mean  "  gem  of  the  *  NORTHEBN     PACIFIC      RAILWAY 

mountains."    Originally  part  of  Oregon.  unites  the  railway  and  water  systems  of 

The  Territory  contains  the  great  falls  of  the  Great  Lakes  and  Upper  Mississippi 

the  Shoshone,  or  Snake,  or  Lewis  River.  with  the  Pacific.    It  is  the  route  forecast 

Fremont's  Peak  is  its  great  landmark  on  by  Jona.  Carver  in  1766.    (See  p.  149.) 
the  east.  «  MONTANA.    The    name   is  simply 

2  BOIS&  (see  p.  241)  became  a  gov-  descriptive  of    a    mountainous    region, 
ernment  post  upon  our  occupation  of  Fort  Benton  was  named  for  Thomas  H. 
Oregon.    The  capital  was  first  fixed  at  Benton.    From  this  point  returning  trap- 
Lewiston,  then  removed  to  Boise.  pers  or  traders  were  in  the  habit  of  float- 

8  WASHINGTON.    Besides  the  excel-  ing  down  the  river  to  St.  Louis  in  canoes 

lence    of   its   harbors,    Washington    is  before   the    day    of   steamboats.     Fort 

noted  for  its  inexhaustible  forests,  thus  Union    was  a  trading-post    established 

making  it  a  great  lumber-producing  re-  with  reference  to  the  Yellowstone  Val 

gion.    In    the    eastern     part    wheat   is  ley  route  to  the  mountains. 


326  THE   WORK  OF  EIGHTY  YEARS. 


THE   WORK   OF   EIGHTY  YEARS. 

OUR  story  closes  with  the  national  domain  completed 
within  limits  grander  than  even  the  sagacious  Jefferson 
had  hoped  for.  Though  "peace  hath  her  victories," 
peaceful  development,  such  as  has  followed  the  settle- 
ment of  grave  political  questions,  affords  fewer  materi- 
als for  history  than  the  stirring  records  of  war,  or  the 
annals  of  political  strife. 

The  West  shared  with  the  East  in  the  drain  made 
upon  its  resources  by  the  Secession  War.  Its  recovery 
from  the  effects  of  that  war  has,  however,  been  so 
marked  that  to-day  all  traces  of  it  are  nearly  effaced 
from  its  outward  and  inward  life.  National  unity  is  no 
longer  a  thing  of  territorial  expansion,  as  with  the 
statesmen  of  Jefferson's  and  Benton's  time,  but  now 
means  a  perfect  union  of  the  whole  people  in  the  cause 
of  progress,  and  for  the  welfare  of  mankind.  In  that 
peaceful  conflict  the  once  hostile  sections  are  now 
engaged  with  a  praiseworthy  emulation. 

The  child  who  was  born  when  Lewis  and  Clarke  set 
out  for  the  Pacific,  may  now  be  the  living  witness  to 
what  we  have  called  the  marvel  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  It  is  true,  much  of  the  rapid  progress  of  the 
Great  West  is  due  to  the  development  of  its  extraor- 
dinary mineral  wealth,  by  which  masses  of  population 
have  been  suddenly  moved  upon  particular  points,  so 
forcing  settlement  beyond  its  legitimate  growth. 

There  have  been,  however,  other  potent  agencies  at 
work  to  the  same  end.  Foremost  among  these,  always 
keeping  in  mind  the  constantly  improving  facilities  for 
moving  emigrants  into  the  West,  come  the  great  im- 


THE  WORK   OF   EIGHTY  YEARS. 


327 


provements  made  in  mechanical  arts.  And  first  of  all 
we  should  class  the  reaping-machine,  invented  by  Cyrus 
H.  McCormick,  which  is  thought  to  have  advanced  the 
line  of  civilization  westward  many  miles  each  year. 
Without  this  invention,  what  was  an  uninhabited  and 
unproductive  region  forty  years  ago  would  hardly  have 
been  converted  into  the  granary  of  the  continent,  with 
its  millions  of  people,  its  marvellous  productiveness, 
and  its  growing  weight  in  the  nation.  In  the  East 
small  farms  are  the  rule  ; 
in  the  West,  the  excep- 
tion. The  difference,  at 
least,  seems  to  be  large- 
ly owing  to  the  grass- 
mower,  and  grain-reap- 
ing machines  that  were 
unknown  to  agricultur- 
ists of  a  former  genera- 
tion, though  allowance 
must  be  made  for  the 
better  conditions  of  soil,  which  more  generally  adapt  it 
for  cultivation.  Great  bodies  of  fertile  lands,  such  as 
exist  in  the  States  of  Kansas  and  Nebraska,  are  un- 
known in  the  East. 

Then  the  building  of  the  Pacific  railways  has  con- 
tributed greatly  to  the  rise  of  the  West.  Munificently 
endowed  by  Government  with  moneys  and  lands,  the 
sale  of  the  latter  to  settlers  became  an  instant  and 
potent  means  to  the  building-up  of  the  unoccupied 
country.  In  its  pre-emption  and  homestead  laws  the 
Government  has  also  offered  unusual  privileges  to  all 
who  wished  to  settle  on  the  vacant  public  domain  ;  thus 
putting  within  the  reach  of  men  of  small  means,  the 


REAPING-MACUINE. 


328  THE  WORK  OP  EIGHTY  YEARS. 

most  valuable  and  productive  farming  lands  in  the 
world.  In  this  respect  no  government  has  done  so 
much  for  its  middle-class  population  as  ours.  And  no 
population  has  more  quickly  returned  to  the  giver  the 
benefits  it  has  received. 

One  other  active  means  to  the  making  of  the  Great 
West  should  not  be  overlooked.  Passing  by  the  ex- 
plorers, whose  names  are  familiar,  we  come  to  a  class  of 
men  whose  work  was  no  less  important  in  its  way. 
Trained  journalists  like  Horace  Greeley,  Samuel  Bowles, 
Albert  D.  Richardson,  Henry  Villard,  Thomas  W.  Knox, 
and  William  Phillips,  did  much  to  make  the  West 
known  to  the  East  in  all  its  aspects,  whether  political, 
social,  or  economical,  so  depicting  its  inside  and  outside 
life  to  a  multitude  of  readers,  many  of  whom  became 
actual  emigrants  in  consequence. 

These  combined  agencies,  all  working  together  in 
harmony,  have  produced  extraordinary  results.  For 
instance,  at  the  time  we  bought  it  all  Louisiana,  count- 
ing from  New  Orleans  to  the  Missouri,  had  only  about 
forty-five  thousand  people.  In  1880,  under  not  quite 
eighty  years  of  American  rule,  it  had  over  eleven 
millions,  or  more  than  twice  as  many  as  all  the  States 
had  when  Louisiana  was  ceded  to  us.  The  whole  popu- 
lation of  French  and  Spanish  Louisiana  did  not  equal 
that  of  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul,  or  Kansas  City  at  the 
present  time,  neither  of  which  had  a  single  settler  at 
the  date  of  cession. 

Spain  thought  to  control  the  continent  with  a  few 
soldiers  and  missionaries.  Her  civilization,  barbaric  in 
its  origin,  is  mediaeval  rather  than  modern.  In  America 
it  could  rise  no  higher  than  its  source.  Mexico  and 
Cuba,  two  of  its  earliest  conquests,  show  what  it  has 


THE   WORK   OF   EIGHTY   YEARS.  329 

been  able  to  do  in  the  New  World  in  three  hundred  and 
fifty  years  of  rule. 

France  frittered  away  her  opportunities  in  schemes 
too  vast  for  the  time  or  the  means  appointed  for  their 
accomplishment.  It  is  the  story  of  force  without  fore- 
cast. Her  explorers  overran  the  country,  but  left  few 
substantial  footmarks  behind  them.  One  reads  French 
names  everywhere,  but  sees  no  cities  founded.  The 
policy  of  France,  like  that  of  Spain,  looked  more  to 
getting  a  revenue  from  America  than  colonizing  it. 
Hence  every  avenue  of  individual  effort  was  made  to 
lead  back  to  the  royal  exchequer. 

Now  let  the  man  who  is  not  yet  fifty  years  old  take 
down  the  geography  he  studied  when  a  schoolboy,  and 
put  his  finger  in  the  middle  of  the  State  of  Iowa.  He 
will  have  touched  the  border  of  that  Great  American 
Desert  whose  story  we  have  been  telling  him. 


IXDEX. 


the  fl|      ll    I  .  35,  39<»<tfO; 
tber  dfEtlljUhM,  42,  43;  BIM 

church  of,  52. 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  dssesiis 
right  of 


141;  beginning*  of 
at,    HI; 


112   (and 
goes  to  L*ke 


Allooez,  Fr. 

Superior,  77; 

to  the  Wisconsin  B 


Aj.acLes  of  New  Mexico,  25S. 

Arizona,  missions  in,  38;  the 


Arizona  bought  of  Mexico,  288,  288. 
Arkansas  nation,  Joliet  and  Mar- 

quette  visit  them,  89;  towns,  90,  92 

(note);  called 


Post  in  IMS,  178. 
2iver, 
on,  11T. 
Arkansas    Territory    settlements 

(1819),  222,  223  (note). 
Arkansas  admitted  to  the  Union, 

227. 
Ashburton  treaty,  239,  241  (note). 


140:  death,  Ul. 
Beat,  Charles,  jpntim*   of  Sew 

Mexico.  254. 


BonneviUe, 


emigrants  to 
fc 
L. 


Boundary  of   Hi,- 

rectified  by  the  war  with  Mexico, 

• 
Brown,  John,  in  Kansas,  304.  907 


332 


IKDEX. 


Butterfield  Overland  Stage  Com- 
pany, 317,  320  (note). 

Button,  Sir  Thomas,  in  Hudson's 
Bay,  133. 

Cabrillo's  voyage,  65  (note). 

Cache-a-la-Poudre  River,  238,  241 
(note). 

California,  the  name,  55,  65  (note) ; 
coast  explored,  55-59;  missions 
founded,  59-63;  commercial  pol- 
icy under  Spanish  rule,  64,  65; 
coveted  by  the  United  States, 
256;  why,  257;  emigration  to,  263 
(note);  we  fail  to  buy  it,  258;  or 
separate  it  from  Mexico,  288; 
England  suspected  of  coveting  it, 
258;  the  American  settlers  seize 
the  government,  261;  the  flag 
raised  at  Monterey,  261;  con- 
quered, 262;  in  revolt  again,  262; 
subdued,  263;  Mexico  cedes  it  to 
the  United  States,  263;  gold  dis- 
covered, 272;  rush  for  the  mines, 
274;  newspapers  of,  in  1848,  274, 
275  (note);  effect  on  the  country, 
278,  279  (note);  routes  to,  280,  281, 
282,  284  (note) ;  commerce  opened 
with  the  interior,  283;  population 
in  1849,  284;  under  military  gov- 
ernment, 285;  the  interregnum, 
285;  miners'  courts,  286;  State 
government  formed,  287;  struggle 
in  Congress,  287;  admitted  to  the 
Union  a  free  State,  287;  Pacific 
Railroad  in,  318,  320  (note). 

Calumet,  The,  89;  virtue  of, 92  (note). 

Canada,  conquest  of,  146  (note). 

Cape  Flattery  named,  144, 146  (note). 

Cape  Mendocino,  65  (note). 

Carson,  Christopher,  234;  stopped 
by  Gen.  Kearney,  256,  263  (note). 

Carver,  Jonathan,  his  idea,  149; 
gets  to  the  Mississippi,  150;  as- 
cends the  Minnesota,  151;  his 
"Travels,"  152. 

Cenis  Indians,  116, 117  (note). 


Champlain,  Samuel  de,  founds 
Quebec,  69;  at  Montreal,  71;  hears 
about  the  Great  Lakes,  71,  72;  a 
prisoner,  74,  79  (note). 

Charles  V.  (of  Spain),  events  of  his 
reign,  4-8;  last  days  of,  53,  54; 
his  character,  81. 

Childs,  J.  B.,  on  the  way  to  Oregon, 
237. 

Chouteau,  Peter,  198,  204  (note). 

Cibola,  Father  Marco  goes  to,  32, 
39  (note). 

Clarke,  William,  explores  Louisi- 
ana, 187, 191  (note).  See  Lewis. 

Clarke's  River  (Ore.)  named,  197. 

Clay,  Henry,  defeated  on  the  Texas 
issue  (1844),  245. 

Colorado,  gold  in,  208;  discoveries 
on  Cherry  Creek,  309;  Denver 
City  founded,  310;  great  rush 
of  gold-seekers,  310;  stage-route 
established  from  the  Missouri, 
311;  discoveries  on  Clear  Creek, 
312;  Gregory,  312;  other  settle- 
ments, 313;  surface  diggings  give 
out,  314;  but  gold  quartz  struck, 
314;  a  State,  322. 

Colorado  River  explored,  33;  the 
name,  39  (note). 

Colorado  Desert  crossed,  65. 

Columbia  River  missed  by  Cook, 
145;  and  Vancouver,  146  (note)-, 
discovered,  161,  162  (note),  191 
(note) ;  a  bone  of  contention,  230, 
233  (note). 

Columbia,  the  ship,  160,  161,  162 
(note). 

Columbus,  Christopher,  fails  to  find 
the  way  to  India,  3;  result  of  his 
discoveries,  3;  his  death,  4. 

Cook,  James,  sent  to  the  Pacific, 

143,  146  (note);  discovers  Sand- 
wich Islands,  144;  names  Cape 
Flattery  and  Mount  Edgecumbe, 

144,  145;  tries  to  sail  east  to  Hud- 
son's Bay,  145;  his  death,  146. 


INDEX. 


333 


Oopperraine  River  explored,  137. 

Coronado,  Vasquez  de,  explores 
New  Mexico,  32,  39  (note). 

Cortez,  Hernando,  iu  Mexico,  7; 
reaches  the  Great  South  Sea,  7. 

Council  Bluffs,  visited  and  named, 
188;  Long  winters  there,  221. 

Coureurs  de  Bois,  125,  130  (note). 

Crozat,  Anthony,  his  monopoly, 
124,  126. 

Cuba,  importance  of,  to  Spanish 
conquests  in  America,  4. 

Custer,  George  A.,  killed  in  battle, 
325. 

Dablon,  Fr.  Claude,  founds  mission 
at  Sault  Ste.  Marie,  78,  80  (note). 

Dakota,  great  progress  in,  324. 

De  Fuca,  Juan,  discovers  Straits 
of  Fuca,  59. 

Dubuque,  Julien,  in  Iowa,  183. 

Denver  City  founded,  310;  in  1859, 
313,  314  (note). 

Denver,  James  W.,  299  (note),  310. 

De  Soto,  Hernando,  lands  in  Flori- 
da, 11;  his  army,  11,  12;  cruel 
conduct  toward  the  natives,  13, 14, 
22;  his  wonderful  marches,  15, 17 
(note)-,  escape  of  his  followers,  16; 
death  and  burial,  18;  described, 
17  (note). 

Douglas,  Stephen  A.,  author  of 
"  Popular  Sovereignty,"  288. 

Drake,  Sir  Francis,  reaches  Cali- 
fornia, 56;  takes  possession,  and 
names  it  New  Albion,  57;  his 
port,  66  (note). 

El  Dorado.  The  Spaniards  seek  it 
in  Florida,  14;  the  Indians  mis- 
lead them,  28  (note). 

El  Paso  del  Norte  founded,  37;  in 
1807,  208. 

Elizabeth  of  England,  her  charac- 
ter, 147. 

England  claims  the  North-west 
coast,  146  (note) ;  loses  her  Amer- 
ican colonies,  165. 


Falls  of  St.  Anthony  named,  107, 
109  (note);  Indian  superstition 
about,  151. 

Fire-worship,  46. 

Florida  discovered  and  named,  6; 
its  extent,  6,  7;  initial  point,  7,  9 
(note) ;  De  Soto  invades  it,  11; 
Indians  of,  20-28;  ceded  back  to 
Spain,  164. 

Fontaine  qui  bouille,  314  (and 
note). 

Fort  Boise*,  233  (note);  Fremont 
there,  238, 241  (note) ;  made  capital 
of  Idaho,  323,  325  (note). 

Fort  Chipewyan,  138,  139  (note). 

Fort  Crbvecoeur,  101,  104  (note). 

Fort  Hall,  233  (note),  238. 

Fort  Kearney,  Neb.,  294. 

Fort  Laramie,  235,  241  (note). 

Fort  Leavenworth,  293,  294  (note). 

Fort.  I'rudhomme,  103,  104  (note). 

Fort  Riley,  Kan.,  293. 

Fort  Scott,  Kan.,  294. 

Fort  Smith,  223  (note). 

Fort  Walla  Walla,  238. 

France  contends  with  Spain  for 
dominion,  and  is  defeated,  6; 
cedes  Louisiana  to  Spain,  163; 
plays  her  own  game,  168  (note); 
attitude  hostile  toward  us,  171; 
sells  us  Louisiana,  174. 

Free-soil  party  formed,  290. 

Fremont,  J.  C.,  meets  Senator 
Benton,  234;  sent  to  explore 
South  Pass,  234;  ascends  Fre- 
mont's Peak,  236;  what  he  ac- 
complished or  recommended,  236; 
corrects  the  popular  error  about 
the  Great  Desert,  236;  sent  to  the 
Lower  Columbia,  237;  finds  a 
new  pass  through  the  Rockies, 
238;  explores  Great  Salt  Lake, 
238;  in  California,  256;  is  there 
again  as  war  is  impending,  258; 
ordered  out  of  the  country,  259; 
heads  the  American  settlers  in  a 


334 


INDEX. 


revolt  against  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment, 260. 

Fremont's  Peak  ascended,  236. 

French  Spoliation  Fund,  its  origin, 
174. 

Frontenac  (Louis  de  Buade)  Comte 
de,  made  governor  of  Canada, 
83;  his  character,  84;  builds  a 
post  on  Lake  Ontario,  97. 

Garrison,  William  Lloyd,  leads 
anti-slavery  men,  247. 

Gilpin,  William,  predicts  mineral 
wealth  of  Rocky  Mountains,  308. 

Golden  Gate  named,  279  (note). 

Gray,  Robert,  first  sails  into  the 
Columbia  River,  161,  162  (note). 

Great  American  Desert  described 
by  Long,  223;  its  bearing  on  the 
Oregon  question,  231;  Fremont 
corrects  the  popular  error,  236;  its 
present  condition,  325,  329. 

Great  Salt  Lake  first  mentioned, 
35. 

Great  Salt  Lake  explored  by 
Fremont,  238, 241  (note). 

Gregory  Diggings,  Col.,  312. 

Gregory,  John  H.,  finds  gold  on 
Clear  Creek,  Col.,  312. 

Gulf  of  California,  missions  on,  38. 

Gulf  of  Mexico,  early  knowledge 
of,  10,  17  (note);  coasts  described, 
114. 

Hearne,  Samuel,  goes  to  Copper- 
mine River,  137. 

Hennepin,  Fr.  Louis,  99;  sent  by 
La  Salle  to  explore  the  Lower 
Illinois,  101;  described,  105,  106; 
ascends  the  Upper  Mississippi, 
105;  taken  by  Sioux,  106;  names 
Falls  of  St.  Anthony,  107;  re- 
leased by  French  traders,  108; 
his  account  of  his  explorations, 
109  (note). 

Hot  Springs  of  the  Washita,  222. 

Houston,  Samuel,  made  president 
of  Texas,  243. 


Hudson,  Henry,  132, 135  (note). 

Hudson's  Bay  explored,  132,  133. 

Hudson's  Bay  Company  formed, 
134;  its  early  struggles,  134;  in- 
tent  of  the  grant,  136. 

Hurnboldt  Mountains  and  River 
named,  258. 

Hurons,  71,  72;  driven  from  Lake 
Huron,  76,  79  (note). 

Iberville,  Le  Moyne  de,  118,  123 
(note);  arrives  at  Pensacola,  119, 
and  Mobile  Bay,  119;  in  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  120;  gets  a  letter 
from  La  Salle,  120;  forms  settle* 
ments  in  Biloxi  Bay  and  Mobile, 
121;  death,  123. 

Idaho,  323,  325  (note). 

Illinois  nation,  Joliet  and  Mar- 
quette  among,  88. 

INDIANS  OF  FLORIDA,  earliest  ac- 
counts of  them,  20;  arms  and  im- 
plements, 21;  singular  tradition 
about  the  whites,  24;  villages,  24, 
25;  dress,  25,  26;  worship,  26; 
mode  of  life,  27.  NEW  MEXICO, 
their  houses  and  villages,  34,  35, 
40-43;  folk-lore,  45-49;  customs, 
50;  government,  52;  Pimos  In- 
dians, 39  (note).  GREAT  LAKES, 
Hurons,  71-72  ;  Iroquois,  72. 
CALIFORNIA,  do  honor  to  Drake, 
56;  as  inhabitants  of  missions, 
61-64  ;  in  mines,  279.  HUDSON'S 
BAY,  137.  VANCOUVER  ISLAND, 
144  (note).  NORTH-WEST  TERRI- 
TORY, 168.  OREGON,  194-196,  197 
(note) ;  missions  among,  233  (note). 
KANSAS,  293.  TEXAS,  242.  GREAT 
PLAINS,  186,  221.  (See  also  under 
various  tribal  names.) 

Iowa  admitted  to  the  Union, 
248. 

Iroquois,  72;  they  block  up  Lakes 
Ontario  and  Erie  to  the  French, 
76;  conquer  and  disperse  the 
Hurons,  76,  79  (note). 


INDEX. 


335 


Isthmus  of  Darien  crossed  by  Bal- 
boa, 7. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  moves  to  un- 
ravel the  Mississippi  question, 
172;  sets  exploration  of  Louisiana 
on  foot,  184;  sends  Lewis  and 
Clarke  to  the  Pacific,  187. 

Jesuit  missionaries  in  Canada,  74, 
79  (note). 

Joliet,  Louis,  sent  to  find  the  Mis- 
sissippi River,  with  Marquette, 
85 ;  reaches  it,  87  ;  visits  the 
Illinois,  88;  reaches  the  Arkansas 
nation, 90;  turns  bin -k,  91, 92  (note). 

Kansas  explored  by  Pike,  200. 

Kansas,  parties  to  the  struggle  over, 
290;  passage  of  the  Kansas-Ne- 
braska Act,  292;  described,  292; 
adapted  to  slave  labor,  294;  first 
advantages  with  the  party  of 
slavery,  295;  emigration  to,  296; 
first  settlements  in,  296;  Free- 
State  settlements.  298,  299  (note); 
Missourians  seize  Territorial  gov- 
ernment, 302;  Topeka  Constitu- 
tion, 302;  Lawrence  besieged,  302; 
Free-State  leaders  held  for  trea- 
son, 303;  Lawrence  suffers  from 
outrages,  303;  Free-State  legisla- 
lature  dispersed,  303;  Free-State 
leaders,  304;  in  a  state  of  anarchy, 
305 ;  Lecompton  Constitution 
formed,  305;  defeated,  306;  ballot- 
stuffing,  306;  admitted  to  the 
Union,  320. 

Kansas  City,  beginnings  of,  234, 
'-'41  (note). 

Kearney,  Stephen  W.,  marches  to 
New  Mexico,  252;  takes  posses- 
sion, 254;  goes  on  to  California, 
255, 256  (note) ;  beaten  at  San  Pas- 
qual,  263. 

Kendrick,  John,  sails  through  the 
Straits  of  Fuca,  147  (note),  158. 

Kentucky  admitted  to  the  Union, 
167. 


Kino,  Fr.  Eusebius,  founds  mis- 
sions, 38. 

La  Chine,  origin  of  name,  96,  99 
(note). 

Laclede,  Pierre,  founds  St.  Louis. 
179,  183  (note). 

Lake  Michigan,  92  (note). 

Lake  Pepin,  107,  109  (note). 

Lake  Superior  Indians  at  Quebec, 
77. 

Lane,  James  H.,  304,  307  (note). 

La  Peyrouse,  ('A,  66  (note). 

Larkin,  Thomas  O.,  264  (note); 
d«  s.  ribes  gold  discovery,  274, 
275. 

La  Salle,  Robert  Cavelier  de,  de- 
scribed, 93,  94;  goes  in  search  of 
the  Ohio,  97;  Frontenac  his 
friend,  97;  plans  a  colony  at 
mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  98;  gets 
a  patent  from  Louis  XIV.,  98,  99 
(note);  builds  a  fort  and  vessel  on 
Niagara  River,  99;  sails  for  Green 
Bay,  100;  starts  hence  for  the 
Mississippi  River,  and  descends 
the  Illinois,  101;  winters  among 
the  Illinois,  101;  returns  to  Fron- 
tenac, 101 ;  again  sets  out,  102  ; 
finds  Crevecceur  in  ruins  and 
deserted,  102;  makes  a  third 
attempt,  103;  builds  Fort  Prud- 
homme,  103;  reaches  the  Gulf  and 
takes  possession  of  Louisiana, 
103, 104;  goes  to  France,  111;  sails 
for  the  Mississippi  River,  112; 
lands  on  the  coast  of  Texas,  112; 
a  chapter  of  disasters,  113;  builds 
Fort  St.  Louis  on  Lavaca  River, 
113;  sets  out  for  the  Mississippi, 
115;  is  killed,  117  (and  note); 
name  honored,  123  (note). 

Law,  John,  his  Mississippi  scheme, 
126,  130  (note). 

Lawrence,  Kan.,  founded,  298,  299 
(note);  besieged,  302;  destruction 
of  property  at,  303. 


336 


INDEX. 


Leavenworth,  Kan.,  founded,  296, 
299  (note). 

Lecorapton  settled,  297,  299  (note); 
pro-slavery  party  form  a  State 
constitution  at,  305. 

Ledyard,  John,  144,  145;  his  idea, 
153,156(nofe);  a  deserter,  154 ;  goes 
to  France,  154;  Jefferson's  advice 
taken,  155;  attempts  to  reach  the 
north-west  coast  by  way  of  Kam- 
schatka,  and  fails,  156. 

Lewis,  Merriwether,  explores  Lou- 
isiana, 187,  191  (note);  ascends 
the  Missouri,  188 ;  among  the 
Mandans,  189;  reaches  the  Great 
Falls,  191;  sets  out  across  the 
mountains,  192 ;  brings  back 
guides  and  horses,  194 ;  sufferings 
in  the  mountains,  195;  reaches 
Lewis  River,  195;  descends  the 
Columbia,  195;  and  reaches  the 
sea,  197. 

Lewis  River  (Snake  River  of 
Oregon),  named,  195. 

Little  Rock,  223  (note). 

Livingston,  Robert  R.,  opens  nego- 
tiations for  the  purchase  of 
Louisiana,  173, 175  (note). 

Long,  Stephen  Harriinan,  sent  to 
explore  the  Platte  Valley,  219; 
ascends  the  Missouri  in  a  steam- 
boat, 219,  223  (note);  winters  near 
Council  Bluffs,  221;  goes  down 
the  South  Platte  to  the  moun- 
tains, 222;  thence  by  the  Cana- 
dian to  Fort  Smith,  222  ;  pro- 
nounces the  Great  Plains  a 
desert,  223.  • 

Long's  Peak  ascended,  222. 

Louis  XIV.,  beginning  of  his  reign, 
81;  its  character  described,  130 
(note). 

Louisiana,  the  name,  104 ;  La 
Salle's  colony,  109,  123  (note); 
Iberville's  colony,  118;  under 
Crozat,  125;  under  Law,  126;  set- 


tlements begun,  127;  ceded  to 
Spain,  163;  upper  settlements, 
166;  lower  settlements,  167;  ceded 
to  the  United  States,  174;  settle- 
ments and  population  in  1803, 
176-183;  a  State,  214. 

Louisville  founded,  168. 

Mackenzie,  Alexander,  discovers 
the  Mackenzie  River,  138; 
reaches  the  Pacific,  139. 

Mandan  tradition,  39  (note). 

Marco  de  Niza  explores  New 
Mexico,  32,  39  (note). 

Marquette,  Fr.  James,  goes  to  Lake 
Superior,  78,  80  (note);  goes  with 
Joliet  to  find  the  Mississippi 
River  (see  Joliet). 

Marshall,  James  W.,  discovers  gold 
in  California,  272. 

Mendoza,  Antonio  de,  sends  ex- 
plorers into  New  Mexico,  32. 

McCormick,  Cyrus  H.,  his  reaping 
machine,  327. 

Meramec  lead-mines,  182. 

Mexico,  conquest  of,  5;  an  historic 
initial-point,  7. 

Mexico,  war  with  her,  250  (note); 
it  is  unpopular  in  the  North,  251 
(note);  peace  and  its  results,  263. 

Minnesota  explored  by  Hennepin, 
105-107;  by  Carver,  150-152;  posts 
in,  183;  by  Pike,  198;  by  Nicollet 
and  Fremont,  234,  241  (note);  ad- 
mitted to  the  Union,  307. 

Mississippi  River,  The,  nearly  dis- 
covered, 10;  De  Soto  finds  it,  16; 
name,  17  (note);  the  Sioux  de- 
scribe it,  78,  80  (note);  acquires  a 
first  importance  with  the  French, 
82;  fables  about,  89;  explored  by 
Joliet  and  Marquette,  85-92;  by 
La  Salle,  103,  104. 

Mississippi  Territory  formed,  167. 

Missions  in  New  Mexico,  37;  in 
California,  60-64,  66  (note);  on 
Lake  Huron,  74,  75;  Lake  Supe- 


INDEX. 


837 


nor,  77,  78,  79;  Oregon,  233  (note), 
238,  240;  Texas,  246  (note);  Kan- 
sas, 293. 

Missouri,  settlements  in,  1819,  219; 
struggle  over  her  admission  as  a 
State,  223-227;  her  growth,  228. 

Missouri  Compromise,  the,  226;  set 
aside,  292,  294  (note). 

Missouri  River  first  mentioned,  89, 
92  (note)]  its  sources  unknown 
1783, 162, 168  (note),  185, 191  (note). 

Monroe  Doctrine  enunciated,  231, 
233  (note). 

Montana,  323,  325  (note). 

Monterey  visited,  59;  mission  at, 
61 ;  name,  66  (note). 

Montezuma,  48,  52  (note). 

Mormons  as  soldiers,  253;  rise  of 
the  sect,  268  (note) ;  decide  to  go 
to  Salt  Lake,  and  why,  266;  their 
city,  266,  268  (note) ;  their  growth, 
267;  and  creed,  267;  in  California, 
273,  275  (note). 

Mormon  Diggings,  273,  274,  275 
(note). 

Moscoso,  Luis  de,  succeeds  De  Soto 
and  saves  his  men,  17  (note),  18. 

Mount  St.  Elias  discovered,  141. 

Natchez  Indians,  123,  124. 

Natchez,  its  importance  to  Louisi- 
ana, 123;  fort  at,  124. 

Natchitoches  occupied  by  French, 
124, 130  (note). 

Nebraska,  Act  forming  the  Terri- 
tory, 292;  not  adapted  for  slave 
labor,  294;  Pacific  Railroad  begun 
in,  318,  320  (note);  growth  of,  321; 
admitted  to  the  Union,  321,  322 
(note). 

New  England  Emigrant  Aid  Com- 
pany, 297,  299  (note). 

New  Madrid,  178, 183  (note). 

New  Mexico  first  explored  by 
Marco  de  Niza  and  Vasquez  de 
Coronado,  32;  fallacies  concern- 
ing it,  30;  obstacles  in  the  way, 


30;  second  exploration,  33;  third 
do.,  33,  34;  villages  and  people 
described,  34,  35;  named,  35;  col- 
onized, 37;  missions  in,  37;  native 
insurrection  in,  37;  new  invasion, 
38;  native  cities  described,  40-44; 
in  1807,  205-208;  its  importance 
to  emigration,  251,252;  Kearney 
sent  to  take  it,  252;  yields  with- 
out fighting,  254;  insurrection  at 
Taos,  256  (note);  ceded  to  the 
United  States,  263. 

New  Orleans  founded,  128,  130 
(note);  described  by  Charlevoix, 
129;  in  1803, 177,  178;  attempt  of 
England  to  seize,  214. 

Nevada,  rise  of,  321;  a  State,  321, 
322  (note). 

Nez  Perec's  mission,  238. 

Niagara  River  and  Falls,  74,  79 
(note);  seized  by  La  Salle,  99, 104 
(note). 

Nicolet,  Jean,  at  Green  Bay,  75,  79 
(note). 

Nootka  Sound,  146  (note). 

North-west  Company,  183  (note). 

North-west  Territory  formed  and 
slavery  excluded,  165;  area  and 
population,  166, 168  (note). 

Northern  Pacific  Railway,  323,  325 
(note). 

Nueces  River,  249,  251  (note). 

Ohio  River  a  boundary  between 
slave  and  free  States,  165. 

Omaha,  321,  322  (note). 

Ordinance  of  1787, 165. 

Oregon,  name  first  mentioned,  152, 
153  (note). 

Oregon,  first  American  establish- 
ments in,  212,  213;  rivalries  of 
the  fur-traders,  229;  quarrel  with 
England  about  boundary,  230; 
public  opinion  about  Oregon,  231 ; 
various  settlements  in,  232,  233 
(notes) ;  effort  to  keep  Americans 
out  of,  239;  Dr.  Whitman's  heroic 


338 


INDEX. 


efforts  to  win  Oregon  for  us,  239; 
Ashburton  treaty,  239;  Willa- 
mette Valley  being  settled,  240; 
admitted  to  the  Union,  307. 

Oregon  trail,  229,  233  (note) ;  Fre- 
mont explores,  234,  235;  hard 
travelling  it,  239. 

Pacific  Ocean,  or  Great  South  Sea, 
reached  by  Balboa  and  Cortez,  7. 

Pacific  Railroad  talked  of,  257;  on 
the  frontier,  316;  authorized,  320 
(note)]  begun  during  the  civil 
war,  318;  attacked  by  Indians, 
319;  completed,  319;  effect  on  the 
growth  of  the  Great  West,  327. 

Pensacola,  119,  123  (note). 

Peter  the  Great  attempts  discov- 
eries in  the  North- West,  140. 

Philip  II.  (of  Spain),  last  days  of, 
53,  54;  his  character,  81. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  elected  President, 
292,  294  (note). 

Pike,  Zebulon  M.,  explores  the 
Arkansas,  198, 204  (note) ;  in  Kan- 
sas, 200;  among  the  Pawnees,  200; 
ascends  Pike's  Peak,  202;  lost  in 
the  mountains,  203;  taken  to 
Santa  Fe',  203. 

Pike's  Peak  ascended  and  named, 
202;  first  name  for  Colorado  gold- 
mines, 309. 

Pimeria,  38,  39  (note). 

Platte  River,  185, 191  (note). 

Platte  Valley,  Long  explores  it, 
219. 

Polk,  James  K.,  246  (and  note). 

Ponce  de  Leon,  Juan,  discovers 
Florida,  6. 

Pony  express,  316,  320  (note). 

Prairie  du  Chien,  Joliet  at,  87; 
Jonathan  Carver  at,  152;  in  1803, 
183. 

Prince  Rupert  founds  Hudson's 
Bay  Company,  134,  135  (note). 

Pursley,  James,  discovers  gold  in 
Colorado,  210. 


Quebec  founded,  69;  taken,  75. 

Robinson,  Charles,  in  Kansas,  299; 
indicted  for  treason,  302,  307 
(note). 

Russian  American  Company,  142. 

St.  Charles  (Mo.),  183  (note). 

San  Diego  visited,  59;  mission  at, 
61. 

St.  Domingo,  119, 123  (note). 

St.  Genevieve,  183  (note). 

San  Francisco,  mission  founded, 
61. 

San  Francisco  in  1849,  282,  284 
(note). 

Santa  F<?  founded,  37;  in  1807,  206; 
taken  by  Gen.  Kearney,  254. 

Santa  Fe  Trail,  229,  233  (note). 

San  Jacinto,  243,  246  (note). 

St.  Lawrence  River,  route  of 
French  discovery  and  settle- 
ment, 68;  ascended  by  Cartier 
and  Champlain,  69,  71  (note);  the 
key  of  the  continent,  69. 

St.  Louis,  rise  of,  179;  in  1803,  181, 
182;  in  1816,  227. 

St.  Louis  of  Texas  (La  Salle's  col- 
ony), 114,  117  (note). 

St.  Paul,  107, 109  (note). 

St.  Vrain's  Fort,  235,  241  (note). 

Sacramento  City  founded,  283. 

Salt  Lake  City  laid  out,  266,  268 
(note). 

Sandwich  Islands,  discovered,  144; 
named,  146  (note). 

Sault  Ste.  Marie,  possession  taken 
of  the  Great  West  by  France,  79. 

Scott,  Winfield,  conquest  of  Mex- 
ico, 263. 

Sitka  founded,  142  (note). 

Sioux,  first  meeting  with  whites, 
77;  Hennepin  among,  106,  107, 
109  (note). 

Sioux  War  (1876),  325. 

Slavery  introduced  by  De  Soto 
into  Florida,  13;  as  practised  by 
the  Indians,  17  (note);  African 


INDEX. 


339 


slavery  in  Louisiana,  127,  130 
(note);  excluded  from  the  North- 
west Territory,  165;  admitted  to 
Missouri,  223-227;  in  Texas,  243, 
244;  become  a  sectional  issue, 
24(5;  party  formed  to  antagonize 
it,  247;  petitions  against,  refused 
by  Congress,  248;  struggle  over 
the  admission  of  California,  287; 
contest  in  Kansas,  289. 

Southern  Pacific  Railway,  65. 

South  Pass,  Fremont  sent  to  ex- 
plore it,  234,  241  (note). 

South  Sea,  The.    6'ee  Pacific  Ocean. 

Spain  mistress  of  the  seas,  2  ;  what 
Columbus  did  for,  3;  divides  with 
Portugal  dominion  in  the  East 
and  West,  3,  4;  sends  expeditions 
to  Florida  and  Mexico,  4;  reign 
of  Charles  V.,  4-8;  her  invinci- 
bility broken,  59,  Gfi  (note);  gives 
up  Vancouver  Island  to  England, 
146  (note);  claim  to  north-west 
coast,  159;  gets  back  Louisiana, 
163;  and  Florida,  164;  shuts  up 
New  Orleans  to  our  commerce, 
172,  175  (notes  2  and  3);  loses 
Mexico,  241. 

Steamboat  first  navigates  the  Mis- 
souri, 219. 

Stockton,  Robert  F.,  261;  conquers 
California,  262. 

Stockton,  Cal.,  founded,  283. 

Straits  of  Fuca  discovered,  59; 
explored,  146  (note). 

Sutter's  Fort,  256,  263  (note);  Fre- 
mont's headquarters  at,  260. 

Taylor,  Zachary,  commands  in 
Mexico,  250,  263. 

Tennessee  admitted  to  the  Union, 
167. 


Terra  Finna,  9  (note). 

Texas,  118  (note;  see  also  St.  Louis 
of  Texas);  Americans  invited  to, 
241;  in  1821,  242,  246  (note);  emi- 
gration, 2;  and  its  character,  243; 
revolts  against  Mexico,  243;  con- 
quers her  independence,  24.!;  ap- 
plies for  admission  to  the  Union, 
244;  is  opposed  by  the  North,  -Jr.; 
but  comes  in,  24(5;  her  boundary 
in  dispute,  249. 

Topeka  Constitution,  307  (note). 

Utah,  267,  2(W  (note). 

Vancouver,  George,  146  (note). 

Vizcaino,  Sebastian,  enters  San 
Diego  and  Monterey,  59. 

Washington  Territory,  323,  325 
(note). 

Webster,  Daniel,  his  attitude 
toward  slavery  in  new  States, 
291,  294  (note). 

Whitman,  Marcus,  founds  a  mis- 
sion in  Oregon,  232,  233  (note), 
238;  his  im-morable  ride  to  St. 
Louis,  •_'•';!>. 

Wilkes,  Charles,  explores  north- 
west coast,  240,  241  (note). 

Willamette  Valley  settled,  240. 

Wisconsin,  first  white  man  in,  75, 
79  (note). 

Wisconsin  River  found  to  be  a  trib- 
utary of  the  Mississippi,  78. 

Wyeth,  Nathaniel  J.,  in  Oregon, 
232,  233  (note). 

Wyoming  Territory,  324. 

Yellowstone  Park,  324. 

Yellowstone  River,  185,  191  (note). 

Yerba  Buena,  282,  284  (note). 

Young,  Brigham,  265. 

Zuni  visited  by  Spaniards,  35,  39 
(note). 


AMERICAN  HISTORY 

By  SAMUEL  ADAMS  DRAKE 

FIVE  VOLUMES  PICTURING  THE 
BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  COUNTRY 


M  These  books  aim  to  meet,  so  far  as  they  may,  the  want  for  brief,  compact, 

and  handy  manuals  of  the  beginnings  of  our  country  ;  and  though  primarily 
designed  for  school  or  home  instruction,  in  the  study  of  history,  pains  have  been 
taken  to  make  them  of  interest  to  adult  readers,  more  especially  to  teachers,  by  the 
addition  of  copious  explanatory  notes  or  by  references.  Taken  together,  the 
volumes  afford  an  opportunity  for  reviewing  the  early  colonization  of  this 
country  in  the  true  historical  spirit.  The  series  is  adapted  not  only  for  the  use 
of  teachers,  but  also  for  private  reading,  and  in  the  hands  of  intelligent  boys  and 
girls  in  their  teens,  ought  to  be  productive  of  much  sound  culture." — Boston 
Beacon. 


>THE  BORDER  WARS  OF  NEW 
ENGLAND 

COMMONLY  CALLED  KING  WILLIAM'S  AND  QUEEN  ANNE'S  WARS 
With  58  Illustrations  and  Maps.     12 mo,  $1.50 

Mr.  Drake  has  made  a  consecutive,  entertaining  narrative  of  the  border 
wars  which  the  French  and  Indians  waged  against  the  English  settlers  in  New 
England  during  the  reigns  of  King  William  and  Queen  Anne.  The  story  is  full 
of  adventurous  interest  and  is  told  with  that  minute  attention  to  suggestive  and 
instructive  details  which  have  been  the  distinguishing  feature  of  Mr.  Drake's 
other  books. 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  OHIO  VALLEY 
STATES 

1660-1837 
With  74  Illustrations  and  flaps.    i2mo,  $1.50 

*'  Mr.  Drake  is  the  story-telling  historian.  He  seizes  upon  the  points  of 
interest  in  the  life  of  the  nation  and  presents  them  as  a  picture.  This  latest 
volume  of  his  is  a  gallery  of  such  scenes.  They  are  strikingly  vivid  in  incident 
and  relation.  They  are  colored  with  the  romance  of  wild  life.  The  details 
are  few  and  simple,  but  they  have  the  greatness  of  heroic  action."— Boston 
Transcript. 


THE  MAKING  OF  NEW  ENGLAND 

1580-1643 
With  148  Illustrations  and  flaps.     lamo,  $1.50 

CONTENTS:  I.  Westward,  Ho  !  II.  Coming  to  Stay.  III.  Historic 
Stepping-Stones.  IV.  Coming  of  the  Puritans.  V.  Outswarms 
from  the  Mother  Colony.  VI.  The  Era  of  Progress. 

"  I  have  read  •  The  Making  of  New  England,*  and  like  it  exceedingly.  The 
matter  is  well  chosen  and  well  arranged.  I  particularly  like  the  presentation  of 
the  various  minor  settlements  between  the  coming  of  the  Pilgrims  and  the  great 
Massachusetts  Emigration— a  matter  of  which  many  people  are  almost  ignorant. 
The  picture  of  early  Colonial  life  is  clear  and  excellent."— f^ancis  Parkma*. 

**  The  interest  of  the  story  is  enhanced  by  the  emphasis  given  to  everything 
that  went  to  make  up  the  whole  life  of  the  pioneer  settlers,  or  that  related  to  their 
various  avocations.  It  enables  us  to  see  how  these  men  lived,  and  know  the 
secret  processes  hy  which  the  New  England  character  was  so  moulded  as  to 
oecoate  a  national  force  as  well  as  a  type.**— ScJk**tJ**ntaJ. 


THE  MAKING  OF  VIRGINIA  AND  THE 
MIDDLE  COLONIES 

1578-170" 
With  So  Illustrations  and  flaps.    12  mo,  $1.50 

CONTENTS :  I.  The  English  in  Virginia.  II.  The  English  in  Mary, 
land.  III.  The  Great  Iroquois  League.  IV.  The  Dutch  on  Man- 
hattan. V.  The  Dutch,  Swedes  and  English  on  the  Delaware. 

**  This  handsome  little  volume  will  be  found  interesting  as  the  best  romance 
for  cultivated  readers.  It  is  among  the  very  excellent  books  of  its  kind,  and  will 
stimulate  every  young  reader  to  long  for  a  wider  discussion  of  the  topics  intro- 
duced. That  ts  high  art  in  outline  history."— Imter~Oct*n,  Chicago. 


THE  MAKING  OF  THE  GREAT  WEST 

1512-1883 
With  145  Illustrations  and  flaps.     12  mo.  $1.50 

CONTENTS:  Group  I.  Three  Rival  Civilizations.  I.  The  Spaniards. 
IL  The  French.  III.  The  English.  Group  II.  Birth  of  the 
American  Idea,  I.  America  for  Americans.  II.  The  Path- 
finders. III.  The  Oregon  Trail.  Group  III.  Gold  in  Cali- 
fornia, and  What  It  Led  To.  I.  The  Great  Emigration.  II. 
The  Contest  for  Free  SoiL  III.  The  Crown  of  the  Continent. 

"  Clearly  and  concisely  Mr.  Drake  has  traced  the  history  of  the  Great  West,  or 
that  part  of  the  United  States  lying  beyond  the  Mississippi,  under  the  Spaniards 
and  the  French,  and  he  has  described  the  movements  which  led,  in  orderly  succes- 
sion, to  the  triumph  of  our  own  people  in  converting  a  wilderness  into  a  rich  and 
regiooTwith  rate  skifllhThas  confined  his  narrative  to  essentials,  but 
Id  in  such  a  way  that  fact  becomes  more  fascinating  than  fiction. 
i  beautifully  printed  and  profusely  illustrated."— Public  Opinion. 


CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS,  PUBLISHERS 
153-157  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York 


MAY  221917 


